weapons

Seventeen children run off into the night in Weapons (Distributed by Warner Bros.)

Zach Cregger, previously best known for his work in sketch comedy, made quite the splash in 2022 with Barbarian. That was a fantastically structured, surprising, funny, horror movie, with clever twists and a solid theme. It really put him on the map as an exciting new voice in the genre and got viewers to anticipate his next project. Now we get his follow-up, Weapons, which is more narratively ambitious, larger in scale and much stranger.

Cregger obviously has a thing for interconnected stories with disturbing solutions and unthinkable terrors hiding in seemingly ordinary places. It is not as creepy as his first outing, though it absolutely has its moments. He actually does a pretty great job crafting the story of a town and its citizens and how the trauma brought about by an unexplainable situation cracks this place wide open.

Without ever stating it explicitly, he is playing on the idea that fear and anger exist barely below the surface these days (using an allegory for school shootings to do so), just needing an excuse for people to explode. It is very entertaining, darkly funny and compelling, probably an all-around better movie than Barbarian, even if it doesn’t live up to its full potential, at least on first viewing.

One night, at 2:17AM, a group of seventeen students from one elementary school class get out of their beds and run out of the front door of their houses into the dark. A month later, still with no answers, the teacher and one of the missing kid’s fathers desperately search for clues.

Weapons (122 minutes, without the end credits) is told from several points of view in segments that occasionally overlap, giving the audience different perspectives of the same incidents. This is another clever screenplay, that plays a bit with tone and mood, while unraveling an upsetting truth. It is sort of a slow-burn for the first half, before becoming totally cuckoo bananas the rest of the way. It keeps taking us closer to weirdness, then thrusts us into it. It limits its violence until the final stretch, thus making it extra impactful when things get bloody and kind of gross.

Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) comes under suspicion after her students go missing

If it had been presented in a strictly linear fashion, this would likely have still been an enjoyable genre exercise. The structure elevates it by messing with our knowledge. We think we understand why something went down, making it that much more unexpected to see what really happened. The cast is more than game. Julia Garner, currently the best thing in the new Fantastic Four, is tremendous as the teacher, Justine. New to the school, and with a history of getting a little too attached to her students, she is where parents point the blame when the kids disappear. Garner shows us a traumatized, self-absorbed, scared woman, whose frustrations at the rage directed at her lead her to make some dangerous decisions.

Josh Brolin, intense, determined and prepared to do anything, is Archer, the father of a missing boy. He is a man who is unconvincingly pretending to hold on, constantly going to the cops with his theories, demanding answers that are not forthcoming. Brolin is actually amusing here because of the way Archer reacts to each new piece of information with a baffled “What the hell?” Certainly reasonable under the circumstances. He’s good, as are Alden Ehrenreich, as a troubled cop with a connection to Justine, and Benedict Wong as the confused school principal.

Weapons is a lot of things. It is a drama about a town dealing with a traumatic mystery with no solutions. It is a horror movie about an evil force playing with the citizens of a small town. It is about grief-stricken adults, a terrified kid, bureaucracy, addiction and bizarre things that defy rational logic. Cregger doesn’t stop to explain everything; he explains enough to make it creepy, with an ending that is both satisfying and devastatingly sad. This is one is a hell of a ride.

Zach Cregger has definitely earned the benefit of the doubt on whatever he does next (I say that knowing full well that he is in the process of working on a reboot of Resident Evil due next year). I have faith that he will continue to produce enjoyable, thoughtful and creative work in the horror genre for years to come.

4 out of 5

Cast:

Julia Garner as Justine Gandy

Josh Brolin as Archer Graff

Alden Ehrenreich as Paul

Benedict Wong as Andrew

Amy Madigan as Gladys

Austin Abrams as James

Cary Christopher as Alex Lilly

Written/Directed by Zach Cregger