Weapons falls somewhere between horror and comedy.  Sometimes to tremendous advantage, as in the case of Evil Deads of the World and Shawn of the Deads, and other times to disaster, as in the case of Bride of Chucky or Piranha 3DD.  Obviously, the secret to striking a healthy balance is to use the word "dead" in your title.  Take a cue from Weapons, though, and make sure your jokes are powerful yet succinct if your movie simply must have a different title. 

At 2:17 a.m. one night in the made-up suburban town of Maybrook, 17 kids get out of bed and run out of their houses, fleeing into the night.  Two other oddities accompany this peculiar event: all of the missing kids were in teacher Justine Gandy's (Julia Garner) class, and one student in her class, alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), did not disappear.  This idea is worthy of stephen King, and Zach Cregger is undoubtedly influenced by his writings, particularly 'It' and 'Salem's Lot'.

However, Cregger does not approach this subject in a manner typical of the horror genre.  Rather, he uses Magnolia (1999) by Paul Thomas Anderson as a model, organizing the narrative into six parts that center on one of the main characters.  In some ways, watching the film is like binge-watching a season of TV, much like Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) was organized.  Weapons, which depicts a society shattered by this unsolvable mystery, also shares many similarities with HBO's The Leftovers.  The trauma almost blinds those who are impacted, causing them to ask inappropriate questions and make unethical decisions. 

In contrast to a typical anthology, when each character is given a beginning, middle, and finish to their own story, Zach Cregger frequently ends each piece abruptly at a specific moment of peril.  This effectively turns Weapons into a movie that is essentially a series of cliffhangers, leaving the audience with a few unresolved questions right away, in addition to the more significant ones.  It's amazing how this strategy makes Weapons a lot more interesting rather than annoying.  It's the equivalent of a page-turner in movies. 

As Justine Gandy and Archer Graff, Brolin and Garner are the apparent stars.  The entire community looks at Justine, their schoolteacher, with veiled anger and distrust. Archer is the distraught father of one of the lost children.  Cary Christopher's heartbreakingly shy portrayal of alex Lilly is the only child who did not vanish that evening.  I never really felt that it was their tale, even though there are some thrilling scenes where Justine and Archer have the opportunity to make amends. 

Weapons is strangely emotionally detached, always jumping to the next scene before the previous one can be properly landed, even with its large cast and numerous plotlines.  Zach Cregger's game clearly prioritizes plot above character, but that's not to imply the characters aren't well-developed or the pacing is too quick.  Characters in the movie Weapons are so preoccupied with their current problems that they don't have much time for other things. 

Overall, Weapons is like a Dark Bedtime Story With Plenty Of Creative Scares

Ratings: ⭐⭐⭐⭐



 
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Weapons Review

SIBY JEYYA

08/08/2025 08:08 AM