Seventeen children ran out of their homes one night at 2:17 am. They ran into the street and disappeared into the darkness. They all attend Maybrook Elementary, and all of them were from Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) class. The one student who didn’t leave was Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), who is now quieter and reserved than ever.
Parents of the missing children, including Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), believe that Justine Gandy either had something to do with it or knows where they are. Things turn hostile, and people begin dying in gruesome ways as this seemingly cursed town scrambles for answers.
In 2022, writer and director Zach Cregger wowed audiences and critics with Barbarian. Now Cregger returns with Weapons, a film with a bigger budget, bigger stars, and a more intricate story that intertwines horror, drama, and comedy.
How the children are disappearing can be solved relatively easily while researching the film online, but it’s best to go in blind. Half the charm of Weapons is riding through the mystery as it unravels because it takes some violent and unexpected detours. The film is told through the perspectives of five individuals: Justine, Archer, a cop named Paul (Alden Ehrenreich) who has a complicated relationship with Justine, Alex, and a drug addict named James (Austin Abrams).
Weapons isn’t as shocking or as scary as Barbarian. There are still moments of extreme gore and several moments that take you off guard, but the creepiest parts of Weapons are nightmares that Justine or Archer has. The unsettling sensation is there, but the fact that you know that these are nightmares and the film chooses not to hide that in the slightest makes its impact less potent.
Everything in Weapons is tied to Alex’s aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan). Gladys is incredibly sick and comes to stay with Alex and his parents. She wears a bright red wig, puts on entirely too much red lipstick, and wears vibrant, colored clothes. If it wasn’t for her pale, wrinkly, and sickly looking frame, she’d have a clown-like appearance. She appears in the dreams Justine and Archer are having, and there’s a reason for that.
The film is surprisingly funny. There are several laugh-out-loud moments sprinkled throughout the film, but James is in the film for several important reasons. His motivation is simple for a guy who is constantly tweaking, as he is constantly trying to make money as quickly as he can to get to his next fix. He becomes the comedic catalyst for Paul, and his audible reactions as he’s caught on multiple occasions are amusing. James is the main comic relief of Weapons, but he also stumbles onto the first strong lead of what happened to the missing children.
Camera placement is interesting in weapons as it’s constantly behind the actors. You notice body language more while staring at someone’s back, and it also makes it feel like you’re either following or chasing them the entire film. There’s also an emphasis on doors. There is a specific door to a specific house in the film that is just as threatening closed as it is open. From the outside looking in, there’s no difference. So the threat of not knowing what’s inside and what’s on the other side of that door is always there.
Weapons expands upon Zach Cregger’s storytelling and directing capabilities and offers what is arguably the biggest crowd-pleasing finale of any film this year. It’s much more layered and caters to more than just one specific audience, like Barbarian did. There’s gore and tension, humorous interactions, and the character drama in between keeps you interested throughout.
It’s a well-written and unpredictable story, but it also feels like something is missing. It could be that it isn’t straightforward horror or that its reputation has built it up a bit too much. Weapons is a bonkers mystery that is worth seeing, and Zach Cregger is as bold as ever as a filmmaker, but it simply doesn’t leave you with that same sense of being completely blown away like after viewing Barbarian for the first time.
