Weapons (2025)
Directed by: Zach Cregger
Premise: The children of an elementary school classroom mysteriously vanish in the middle of the night. Their teacher (Julia Garner) investigates the disappearance while members of the community suspect she is involved.
What Works: Weapons is a supernatural horror picture that does not fit neatly into genre conventions. That’s one of the picture’s great strengths. The film’s combination of usual filmmaking techniques and novel storytelling approaches keeps the audience off balance in a way that makes Weapons interesting and engaging. The story begins as a mystery. Children have disappeared and the audience pieces together the truth alongside the characters. The story builds well, culminating in a shocking ending. Weapons was written and directed by Zach Cregger who previously helmed Barbarian. These are complementary films. Both stories play as contemporary fairytales set in suburban communities and Cregger comments upon our anxieties. Barbarian was about the decay of suburban neighborhoods while Weapons nods to fears about the victimization of children. Like Barbarian, Weapons has an unusual tone and although it is frightening this film also has a distinct sense of humor. The cast get it. Julia Garner plays an elementary school teacher whose students have disappeared. She’s also an alcoholic buckling under the stress of public scrutiny. Josh Brolin is cast as the father of a missing child and Alden Ehrenreich plays a troubled police officer. The actors are well matched with their roles and the characters are allowed to be flawed and complicated. Weapons is very well produced. The nighttime scenes are well shot, creating atmosphere but also allowing the viewer to follow the action in the dark setting. Sound is also used well, especially extended moments of quiet.
What Doesn’t: Weapons runs over two hours and it’s a bit overlong. The story is structured episodically with chapters focusing on each of the principal characters. The movie revisits the same events from each character’s point of view. The film is not necessarily stronger for it. The storytelling detail gives the characters and their relationships texture and depth but it’s an inefficient storytelling style and some of the material is extraneous. Weapons’ unusual premise comes across as a way of exploring the aftermath of school shootings. This connection is made explicit in a surreal image that is very on the nose. But this supernatural metaphor is not apt to explore the issue and Weapons doesn’t actually say much about the topic.
Bottom Line: Weapons is a successful horror picture. The storytelling is a little unwieldy and the political subtext is clunky but Weapons is frightening and original.
Episode: #1061 (August 17, 2025)