It’s safe to say no one saw Barbarian coming. The horror debut from writer-director Zach Cregger—co-founder of sketch group The Whitest Kids U’ Know—took the world by surprise with its bizarre, inventive roller-coaster of a story, all unfolding inside an Airbnb. When it comes to his second film, Weapons, that surprise was replaced by a surge of hype before a single frame had even been shot. An all-out bidding war erupted over the screenplay, eventually landing at New Line.
Fellow comedian-turned-horror-maestro Jordan Peele even fired his management after his production company, Monkeypaw, lost the bid. With that much buzz, disappointment seemed likely. Thankfully, Weapons shows no signs of Cregger hitting a sophomore slump—it’s one of the best horror movies of the year so far.
Weapons takes place in Maybrook, a small town reeling from an unexplainable tragedy. On a seemingly random night, 17 children—all from teacher Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) class—woke up at exactly 2:17 a.m., left their homes, ran into the darkness and vanished without a trace. A month later, the community is still in shambles. The kids are still missing, police have no leads, and Justine—still viewed as the prime suspect—has become a local pariah. The questions are simple: What happened? Where did they go? Who is responsible? Why was one child left behind?
“Weapons shows no signs of Cregger hitting a sophomore slump—it’s one of the best horror movies of the year so far.”
From there, Weapons unravels its central mystery by shifting between six character perspectives: Justine; police officer and former flame Paul (Alden Ehrenreich); Archer (Josh Brolin), father of one of the missing kids; school principal Marcus (Benedict Wong); local junkie Anthony (Austin Abrams); and Alex (Cary Christopher), the only child from Justine’s class who didn’t disappear.
One of Weapons’ strongest attributes is its pacing. Much like Barbarian, Cregger loves to deliver an outrageous reveal only to immediately reset and shift focus to a different character. However, in the case of Weapons, it never feels like the film drags or loses momentum, even if it takes some time to get to those big moments. Echoing Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia—a major influence on this film—each character has their own storyline that occasionally intersects with others at key moments. Thanks to a strong script, each of them feels like a crucial piece of the larger puzzle. I found myself becoming more invested in their journeys and the various ways they connect to one another.
Speaking of which, there isn’t a weak performance in the entire ensemble. Both Julia Garner and Josh Brolin are excellent in their lead roles. It’s easy to sympathize with Justine, a teacher who—despite a complicated past—clearly cares about her students. It’s just as easy to understand Archer’s perspective. Despite his anger toward Justine, he’s desperate for even the slightest clue to his son’s whereabouts. They’re both determined to find the missing children in their own way, even if the rest of the community has largely given up.
“Weapons is creepy as hell.”
In a year already filled with impressive child performances, Cary Christopher delivers the most surprising emotional weight as Alex, particularly in scenes involving his family—namely his cruel aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan). While not every character receives as much development as the three mentioned above—especially disappointing in the case of the perennially underrated Benedict Wong—the rest of the ensemble is still fleshed out enough that it doesn’t detract from the film as a whole.
Even with the dark subject matter at hand, Cregger knows when to inject humour throughout the film, much of it coming from Austin Abrams’ almost lackadaisical reaction to the strange events unfolding in town. Don’t get it twisted—it’s not packed with jokes. Weapons is creepy as hell. From the very beginning, the film leaves you in a constant state of unease. It’s not overflowing with jump scares, but the ones it has nearly made me jump out of my seat—especially one that hits during one of the movie’s more emotional scenes.
I’ll avoid diving into spoilers, as this is a film best experienced knowing as little as possible. But I will say it’s surprising how soon Weapons reveals the “what” behind the disappearance. The “how” and “why” are saved for later, and at first, it felt like an odd choice to telegraph it so early. What I didn’t realize was that it was all setting up the film’s wild third act, where things go off the rails almost instantly. There’s one particular moment I already want to rewatch, just to see the audience’s collective reaction.
Weapons is a noticeable step up for Cregger as a filmmaker. It feels like he took what worked in Barbarian and tightened up the things that didn’t. It’s bigger in scope but more focused. With a strong story and cast, it’s the most fun you’ll have being scared all summer.
