Weapons is the sophomore outing from horror writer/director Zach Cregger, who really shot to fame with Barbarian in 2022. Through two films, it’s clear that Cregger has a distinct style and a vision for horror filmmaking that is pretty refreshing to see. His second time out seems to be a true refinement of all that, and the result is stellar. Horror is often used as a vehicle for different thematic elements, most often grief and trauma. That’s not the case here, as Cregger opts to use the genre to explore something totally different and pretty unique.

Weapons Review

Weapons promises something special. The premise is utterly brilliant. At 2:17 am one night, every member of an elementary school teacher’s class goes missing, save for one bullied child. It’s the kind of thing that hooks you immediately, but a lackluster film not paying off that incredible premise would leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Fortunately, that’s not the case here. What unfolds after that is totally unexpected but really great. As with Barbarian, you can’t possibly predict where this is going. That’s good, and it’s intentional, though it will probably similarly make it harder to enjoy as much on any subsequent viewings.

That unexpectedness is why Cregger structures the film like he does. There are several POV shifts between the central characters, each one giving a little bit more insight into the central mystery and progressing the plot a little further before culminating in one POV that stretches from the beginning to the end, filling all the gaps there.

It works to keep you engaged throughout the entirety of the two hours you’re in the theater, but it can be frustrating to get to a really interesting or crucial spot only to backtrack to another character. It is a much better, more streamlined way of nonlinear storytelling than used in Barbarian, where Cregger changed the characters from act one to act two but kept the narrative very similar.

Thematically, Weapons is so clever. You might wonder as I did about how such a title plays into the plot. What does a weapon have to do with mysteriously missing children? As it turns out, it’s a clever association to the themes at play.

This is ultimately a movie about how, whether intentionally or not, people can and are weaponized against one another. This really shines in the middle of the movie with the two POVs of Alden Ehrenreich’s Paul Morgan and Austin Abrams’ James. They play off each other so well, inadvertently entangling themselves with one another and the rest of the plot.

They are also both very funny in concordance with one another. That middle section is genuinely one of the funniest parts of the movie, which is surprisingly hilarious. Cregger induced plenty of laughs with Barbarian, but this feels like a much more intentional attempt to ease tension with humor. I and my fellow audience members were laughing a lot.

The rest of the cast is quite good, too. Josh Brolin, who was almost Pedro Pascal, and Julia Garner are lights out, with Garner turning in her second stellar performance of the summer (The Fantastic Four: First Steps). Garner plays the troubled, longsuffering teacher of these kids, and Brolin is aces as a grieving father.

The only downside is that both of them feel a little underserved by the writing. There’s a really nice arc building for Brolin’s Archer Graff, who can’t reckon with the loss of his son, but after his POV, that thread, both narratively and thematically, is abandoned until the very end.

Speaking of the end, there have been some complaints. Narratively, there is no issue with it. It wraps things up nicely, and it’s about as straightforward as you can expect without being unbelievably bleak. The problem is that it’s abrupt. There’s a climax and a resolution very quickly after, and then the movie just ends. It feels like there should be another 10 or so minutes of resolution.

There’s also a lack of explanation on some things by the time the credits roll. Given how things played out, some would’ve been justified and appreciated, but it’s left out. Perhaps some things are better left unsaid than with a poor, shoehorned explanation, but it still feels a little lacking.

The pacing is also a little problematic. The changing POVs is a nice narrative toy that Cregger uses well, but it results in a stop and start pacing that can ultimately drag you out of it at times. You’ve seen some of these things before, just from a different POV.

Sometimes, that adds a layer, but other times, it’s just not necessary. It felt at times as if this was a script that resulted in 75% of a feature-length film, and so they rehashed and reshot some scenes from a different perspective to fill out the runtime.

That pacing also removes some of the tension and dread. This is much more focused on the mystery than the horror, but it’s still a scary movie that is not as scary as you’d expect. In Barbarian, every moment was dripping with anticipation, tension, and dread. That’s not here, partly because Weapons never allows it to build like that. I believe it’s intentional, as the movie thrives on random outbursts of chaos, but it’s not a decision I totally love.

There’s also a clear explosion at the end, resulting in an epic, heart-pounding finale. It feels slightly underbaked and unearned because of the lack of tension building. Had there been a building sense of dread and stress, the eventual explosion would’ve made more sense.

A lot of this movie takes place in the dark, which robs us of some potentially good cinematography. The lighting works well in those shots, so you’re never left literally in the dark, but it’s hard to come away feeling like this was a good-looking movie because a lot of it is left unknown.

But for where it lacks in that, it makes up for in direction. Zach Cregger is firing on all cylinders here, utilizing the camera to a really excellent degree. The tracking shots, angles, and peeks around corners are so good, often being the only time Weapons ever makes you feel uneasy. It toys with you in these moments, making you think there’s a jump scare around that corner. Sometimes there is, but most of the time, there’s not.

Finale

Weapons is one of those movies that need not be spoiled. It twists and turns in ways you’d never expect, but it all comes together really nicely. Every character is intertwined in a Magnolia-esque format, which was expected, that brings everything together really nicely. Save for some undercooked narrative beats, a lack of tension for much of the runtime, this is really great. Those downsides are easily outdone by the thematic brilliance, humor, and general good time in the theater.

Score: 4/5