'Weapons': A Twisty, Exciting Blend of Horror and Mystery

PHOTO: New Line Cinema

At a time where seemingly every horror movie is seemingly about trauma, it’s hard not to view Zach Cregger’s Weapons as a bit of a response to this trend. Sure, the film does somewhat fit the same category, but it is done in a way that eschews the overly serious tone and knocks against some of the traits that audiences have become accustomed to. It comes across as a riff on elevated horror that nimbly avoids the pitfalls of the genre and yields something far more interesting as a result. Much like his previous film, Barbarian, Cregger slowly reels you into the world of the film, giving the viewer a strange, somewhat disorienting experience that ends with gleeful brutality. It may not have the extensiveness that films like it tend to, but this only makes Weapons stronger, helping it emerge as one of the year’s best horror films, and cementing Cregger’s place as one of today’s most exciting filmmakers. 

In the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, a group of children left their homes at 2:17 AM and disappeared. All of these children were from the classroom of Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), an alcoholic who struggles with maintaining appropriate boundaries with her students. The community assumes that she has something to do with this, but Justine asserts that she is innocent. The rest of the film unfolds through the eyes of other characters, such as Archer (Josh Brolin), a father of one of the missing children, Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a complicated Police Officer, and James (Austin Abrams), a drug addict and burglar. These perspectives intersect and paint a picture of a town dealing with grief, all while unspooling the mystery of what happened to the children who ran away and where they went.

I can see this film splitting people who enjoyed Cregger’s previous effort, Barbarian, as those wanting more of the bonkers energy that film has might be disappointed but those who appreciated its use of tension and non-linear story might find more to love. I fall more into the latter camp, even though I loved how wild Barbarian was. It’s just that you can feel Cregger leveling up as a storyteller, as he uses the interweaving plotlines and perspectives so effectively here while also showing that he is more than capable of handling a film with a wider scope. And yet, there is a succinctness to the whole thing that helps keep it from feeling unwieldy. Cregger isn’t afraid of ambiguity, and wisely chooses not to bog the film down with too much exposition or plot details. There are several elements that other filmmakers would have oversold or put too much lore into, but I like that Cregger just lets some things be. It keeps the film from feeling overly serious and gives it room to breathe. It’s something that has been missing from a lot of horror films lately, and it felt so good to see it again. 

The film also has a more prominent emotional core than one might expect, which makes sense considering the project was born out of the loss of Cregger’s close friend and collaborator, Trevor Moore. With that knowledge the film becomes even more poignant, as so much of it deals with the ripple effects of loss and grief. It recontextualizes this for the film, but the emotions that Cregger was working through while putting it together are still strongly felt. This gives the film a more personal feel, which in turn helps it feel all the more powerful. 

Cregger’s knack for building and releasing tension is also on full display here, as he gives the audience a little bit of the story, lets things get a little mysterious, and then cuts to a different perspective. This allows the film’s madness to gradually escalate, culminating in an absolutely electrifying finale. Because of this, the film ends up saving the best for last, and no moment ever feels like a let-down. Not to mention the structure of the film keeps it from revealing too much, and kept me hooked and wondering the entire time. The film shows that Cregger can craft a pretty good mystery, and that he has a great control over his brand of storytelling.

I was a bit surprised by how inspired this film was by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. With interweaving storylines, similarities in characters and plot details, a highly active camera, and a Jon Brion-esque score, the two films share quite a bit in common. Cregger has been upfront about Magnolia’s influence on Weapons, and it gives the film an interesting texture in execution. The film’s structure gives it a strong backbone, and gives it a bit of depth that helps it touch on themes of addiction, selfishness, and grief. It tells its story in a way that can be read in a number of ways, allowing the viewer to connect it to any number of things. I am glad that Cregger isn’t spelling everything out with the film, as it lets the viewer sit with the film and form their own interpretation of what lies under the surface. 

Much of the film’s original cast had to depart the project due to scheduling conflicts, but the cast we end up with is excellent and feels perfectly suited for it. Julia Garner is in her element here, playing the character of Justine Gandy in a rather grounded way that highlights her humanity. It isn’t a particularly showy performance, but we still get exactly who the character is from Garner’s portrayal. She is complicated, but never feels like a caricature, instead coming across as a regular person for the most part. Josh Brolin is great as well, although he isn’t in as much of the movie as I would have guessed. I feel like his character isn’t as defined as the others, but Brolin fills in the gaps pretty well and has a strong presence that is well-used throughout the film. I also really enjoyed Benedict Wong’s performance, as he has a great warmth to him for much of his screen time, but he also takes a turn that allows him to be quite scary. Alden Ehrenreich also impressed me, as he is a bit of a sad sack, but has a darker edge to him that makes his character fascinating.

While I loved these performances, there is a trio of performances that frankly blew me away. Austin Abrams plays one of the funnier characters in the film, and brings some great physicality to the role. He has a manic energy that he taps into perfectly, and his section of the film is one of the strongest aspects of it. The film also gives us an incredible child performance through Cary Christopher, who plays Alex, the one child from Justine’s class who didn’t disappear. Christopher has impressive restraint for an actor his age, and has a coldness to him that lends itself wonderfully to his performance. But the undisputed MVP of the film is easily Amy Madigan, who is both alluring and terrifying. It’s a hard needle to thread, but she does it effortlessly. Madigan gives easily one of my favorite performances of the year, and one of the best horror performances of the decade so far. Every little bit of her performance is phenomenal, and she is arresting every step of the way.

Weapons is a film that speaks deeply to so much of what I love about movies. Zach Cregger steps up his game and further proves himself to be one of the most fascinating filmmakers working today. I can’t guarantee that others will be as into it as I am, but it is such a fast-paced and entertaining film that I find it hard to see how someone might flat-out dislike it. It’s no crowdpleaser, but it still offers plenty of excitement and thrills that will work for most people and be an oasis in the desert for those who are burned out on elevated horror. It is intense, surprisingly funny, and unsettling, emerging as a beautiful blend of genres and one of the best original films of the year.

Rating: 5/5