WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Antlers, now in domestic theaters.
In Scott Cooper's Antlers, it does seem as if the film's most horrific villain would be the Wendigo in the small Oregon town of Cispus Falls. However, after dissecting the human condition of the film and what leads to Frank (Scott Haze) becoming possessed by the evil spirit and warping his sons, it's clear the real blame must lie with two institutions.
The first one is the cops, which becomes evident as Julia, Lucas' school teacher, begins investigating more about his possible abuse at home at the hands of Frank. She realizes from her sheriff brother, Paul, they once earmarked Frank as a meth dealer, but because child services had nowhere to place the 12-year-old Lucas or his younger brother, seven-year-old Aiden, they ignored Frank's misdemeanors.
This is strange, though, as Paul admits Frank's job could have gotten the boys killed, which ties back to the opening when he's cooking meth in a mining cave. It's there the Wendigo infects Frank, has the single dad kill his colleague and takes Lucas home to complete the transformation. Had the cops acted on Frank's many indiscretions years ago, he would have been arrested and wouldn't be on this path with at-risk kids.
Sure, the town's short of resources, but its policy on junkies and dealers is out of line. And to make matters worse, Julia's doing more investigating than her brother, who's busy denying something's on the loose despite more bodies popping up and forensics telling him it's a creature out of their scientific reach. Paul's incompetent and lazy, which apparently has been inherited from his superiors.
Paul and Dan wait for a warrant, despite the rotting stench, but what's even more shocking is they don't even monitor the home the next day. Julia does, though, and it helps her find the car belonging to Ellen. This leads to the cops then coming in, locating the principal's body in the home and confirming something monstrous got out from Lucas' home. And what's dismal is that, in the end, it's only Dan trying to protect Julia and Lucas at home. And after Dan gets killed, an injured Paul goes with Julia to the cave to get the boys back and stop the Wendigo. He doesn't even radio in for the calvary to come, which makes it seem like only two cops exist in town.
The second issue is that, apart from the cops bumbling clues and ignoring red flags, the school's also to blame because they discard evidence of kids being in the drug web. Ellen, before her death, admits to a concerned Julia they don't care about kids who go missing or drop out. She assumes the kids become mules as the criminal parents don't want them in class, reeking of drugs. As such, they leave them to their own devices, not bothering to work on solutions with child services and the cops.
It's why they don't inquire about Aiden dropping out or Lucas' signs he's depressed. Had Ellen brought authorities in, sensing Lucas was suffering under Frank, she could have taken them to the home and they'd have found the Wendigo, as well as a changing Aiden. It's only when she and Julia look at Lucas' drawings of the Wendigo that Ellen secretly decides to visit to save face. She's ashamed because Julia's exposed her, and as the creature eats her alive when she gets inside, it feels like dark karma.
See how the cops and school botch their jobs in Antlers, now playing in domestic theaters.