Weapons

Zach Cregger’s breakthrough horror film Barbarian was a surprise hit in the fall of 2022. A film marketed off of not knowing its many twists and turns, Cregger’s foray into horror instantly made him a talent worth buzzing about. Formerly of the 2000s comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids You Know”, Cregger’s latest showcases how gifted of an audience manipulator he is. Similar to Barbarian, part of the genius of his third feature is how it unfolds, zigzagging through perspectives and expectations. Utilizing a much bigger budget and grander sense of storytelling, Cregger further solidifies his stance as one of the genre’s most exciting and original new voices.

Courtesy Warner Bros

One night in the small town of Maybrook, 17 third graders from Miss Justine’s (Julia Garner) classroom all ran out of their homes at 2:17 A.M. and into the night, never to be seen or heard from again. The story picks up over a month later as the town is still struggling to move forward and come to terms with the mystery that unfolded. School has started back up, where the naive and flawed Justine has all but one student, Alex (a very strong Cary Christopher), left from her class remaining and is advised by the school’s principal Marcus (Benedict Wong) to take some time off. Justine has been harassed by local parents that claim she has something to do with the children’s disappearance, despite her claims of innocence. Leading the witch hunt against her is Archer (Josh Brolin), whose son Matthew was one of the 17 missing kids. After the cop’s investigation runs cold, Justine and Archer both decide to investigate for themselves, with Justine turning to the aid of her ex Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a recently married cop and recovering alcoholic with a mustache identical to John C. Reilly’s in Magnolia. Also in town is James (Austin Abrams), a loner drug addict who has a run-in with the hot-headed Paul. Each character’s path intersects with one another, leading them to attempt to solve the mystery behind the missing kids.

Weapons is writer/director Zach Cregger’s ambitious follow-up to his sleeper hit Barbarian, a film built off its unique narrative structure. Similarly, Cregger’s latest also unfolds in a distinct narrative framework, but the growth in his directorial skill is immediately apparent. The “Whitest Kids You Know” alum greatly expands his narrative and storytelling scope from his previous work, offering a sprawling, yet masterful look at a community eating itself alive over the mystery of what happened to these kids. Cregger utilizes a non-linear narrative structure that offers different POVs to paint his ambitious story. The filmmaker has stated Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia as a particular influence, which we see in the style of storytelling, following several damaged individuals and their life post-tragedy, which intersects in unexpected ways.

Unlike many recent horror films, Cregger isn’t burdened by laborious metaphors or the need to hammer out every ounce of lore. This is a narratively rich, but ultimately thrilling genre movie that beams with wit and striking filmmaking. He allows elements to be scary and abstract, not withholden to show-boating ideas. The images of the children fleeing their homes in the middle of the night, arms out like wings and springing into the night remains thoroughly unsettling and haunts over the remaining runtime. Cregger’s central mystery can be frustrating, but intentionally so. He withholds certain pieces of the puzzle for long periods of time, later presenting a full picture that adds up to something that didn’t have to be inevitable. Cregger uses his masterful genre sensibilities to present a film whose horrors feel like the manifestation of American suburbia’s most piercing fears.

Weapons feels like a reaction of grief and the ensuing sense of anger that stems from such pain. It’s a film steeped in melancholy over the fear of what evil is inflicted upon our youth. How a community fails to do right by their future, even while a major mystery is happening right under their noses. Cregger never talks down to his audience, showcasing the growing decay of a community’s trust through feelings of powerlessness without having characters resort to lines such as “evil dies tonight”. Josh Brolin’s Archer is still feeling righteousness after the disappearance of his son, turning his frustrations out of Justine, whom he claims must have known something. In a particular nightmare sequence, he is shown in his son’s room in the middle of the night in tears, proclaiming “I’ve failed you”. This similar sense of despair and torment could also be applied to families of school shooting victims, feeding into modern-day American fears.

Courtesy Warner Bros

Cregger’s latest borrows from the likes of Romero and Carpenter, to Spielberg and Shyamalan without slavishly paying homage. The premise can also be seen as a supernatural riff on Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, yet these inspirations are merely jumping off points to tell this unique, deeply unnerving and twisted story. Despite how horrific and scary the film is, Cregger also gives the film a sense of fun in how he continuously upends audience expectations. Cregger was able to elicit shrieks and laughs simultaneously in Barbarian, which is only strengthened in his follow-up. The filmmaker’s sense of humor is well-positioned, finding just the right moments to punctuate a scene with an unexpected laugh or two. Cregger is quickly becoming a top-notch filmmaker when it comes to blending so many intricate emotions at once. The previously mentioned nightmare sequence with Brolin’s Archer miraculously weaves together heartbreaking pathos, imposing suspense that builds up to a scream-inducing jump scare, only to be capped off by a sublime moment of humor. Somehow, Cregger makes these tonal shifts work wonderfully, which is starting to become something of a trademark for the filmmaker.

The film opens with a child’s narration set two years in the future that quickly transitions to images of the 17 children fleeing their homes, set to George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness”. Harrison’s song is used, not just to establish the spooky sense of atmosphere, but as a clever motif. This opening sequence, backed by an eerie score by Cregger, Ryan Holladay and Hays Holladay, makes the film feel like a dark fairytale told in the vein of a chilling campfire story. Cregger’s distinct and bold framing choices — aided greatly by cinematographer Larkin Seiple’s Spielbergian use of low angles — have an epic quality to them, fully enveloping the audience in every beat of the narrative. Some of these choices are used to offset the audience’s visual focus, allowing for sparring, but mightily-crafted jolts, while others are used to establish Cregger’s commanding sense of style. By the time the film reaches its insane climax, Cregger subjects his audience to countless images that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention, while also making them laugh with uncomfortable hysteria given just how batshit some of the events are.

Courtesy Warner Bros

Weapons is a wicked new masterwork from writer/director Zach Cregger. A spooky, thrilling, occasionally funny and deeply sad film that is not only a genius piece of genre cinema, but cinema as a whole. This is an original concoction that allows its disturbing mystery to unfold through riveting performances, unforgettable imagery, stomach-tightening suspense and well-placed grace notes of humor. Cregger’s latest film is unlike most things you’ve recently seen at the theater and is another exemplary showcase of a filmmaker fully at the height of their powers, backed by enough deeply disturbing ideas that permeate long after the credits roll. Don’t read too much into it. Just go into the theater as blind as possible and allow Cregger to take you on the ride of the summer.

Weapons is now playing in theaters.