Weapons
Zach Cregger’s latest self-indulgence is a head-scratching one-of-a-kind for horror fans with strong stomachs.
School for puzzlement: Julia Garner
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
Hardened horror fans who think they have seen everything may have the patience – and stomach – to ingest Zach Cregger’s bloody enigma. Cregger, who previously wrote and directed the smart, funny and shocking Barbarian, is undoubtedly a unique voice in the land of the dark. Weapons is certainly one-of-a-kind, although it takes a long time to work out what sort of film we are watching. A commentary on cancel culture? A police procedural? A mystery thriller? A very black comedy? Something else entirely?
What we do know is that 17 children, at 2.17 in the morning, disappeared from their homes never to be seen again. The only child remaining in Ms Gandy’s class at Maybrook Elementary is Alex who, understandably, now seems rather distant. With the film divided into seven chapters focusing on a different character, Weapons feels like an anthology, with each ensuing POV cutting back in time and overlapping with the previous segment.
Justine Gandy (the subject of Chapter 1) is profoundly upset at having lost her students and turns to alcohol for succour. Meanwhile, members of the community turn on her as she is the only person with a common link to all 17 of the children. The word ‘Witch’ is daubed in red paint on her car, she is suspended by the school and is forbidden from talking to Alex (Cary Christopher), the only person who might conceivably be able to shed light on the mass disappearance. So Justine (Julia Garner) turns detective, although she is hampered at every turn by the police and the parents of the missing children.
Chapter 2 is dedicated to Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), who has become fixated on the last CCTV footage of his son running from the house (with his arms trailing behind him) before vanishing into the dark. Like Justine, Archer is frustrated by the progress of the police and embarks on his own investigation, although neighbours seem reluctant to help. And so on…
For Zach Cregger, the trip is in the slow journey to the denouement. The filmmaker certainly knows how to keep us guessing, but the end result never quite rewards the wait or the longueurs. As with Barbarian, which concluded on an outrageous note, so Weapons goes all batshit in the concluding act. Cregger visits familiar themes in his work (cancel culture, forbidding buildings with subterranean surprises) and once again exhibits his knack for a distinctive visual style. But Weapons feels more disjointed than his first film and at times it is maddening. For instance, why are the police so reluctant (and slow) to investigate Alex’s involvement? We, the audience, are kept at arm’s length as Cregger drip-feeds clues and pads out the film (at 128 minutes) with surreal scenes that turn out to be just nightmares of his various protagonists. Cheating!!! It’s an unsatisfactory brew, although the movie’s originality does merit some commendation.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Sara Paxton, Justin Long, June Diane Raphael, Whitmer Thomas, Callie Schuttera, Clayton Farris, Mohammed Fahmy, and the voice of Scarlett Sher.
Dir Zach Cregger, Pro Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, Ex Pro Josh Brolin, Screenplay Zach Cregger, Ph Larkin Seiple, Pro Des Tom Hammock, Ed Joe Murphy, Music Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay and Zach Cregger, Costumes Trish Summerville, Sound Filipe Messeder.
New Line Cinema/Subconscious/Vertigo Entertainment/BoulderLight Pictures-Warner Bros.128 mins. USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 8 August 2025. Cert. 18.
