Weapons
Director: Zach Cregger
Screenwriter: Zach Cregger
Cinematographer: Larkin Seiple
Production Companies: New Line Cinema, Subconscious, Vertigo Entertainment, BoulderLight Pictures
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: 8 August 2025
Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes
MPA Rating: R
Availability: Theaters
Synopsis
Class ditch day turns out to be more horrifying than humorous in Zach Cregger’s Weapons. Set in the quiet town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, the story kicks off the day after seventeen children from Ms. Justine Gandy’s (Julie Garner) elementary classroom mysteriously run out of their homes in the middle of the night to never return; the only student left in Gandy’s class is the quiet Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher). The students’ parents are naturally distraught and angry, including the exceptionally disgruntled father, Archer (Josh Brolin), who’s convinced that Justine is somehow to blame. In the months following the tragedy, with there still being so many questions and so few answers, Justine, Archer, and others, take it upon themselves to uncover the reason behind the children’s disappearance. And though they initially believe that the reason will be natural, they eventually realize that there are other forces at work.
Analysis
Cregger effectively executes on several key dimensions to amp up the suspense and horror in Weapons. First, Cregger is a master at building suspense through the subversion of audience expectations – a skill that he had demonstrated in his previous film, Barbarian. For example, there are numerous scenes where the camera holds steady on a door that’s been left ajar with only darkness in the background but nothing emerges; tense encounters between people where you expect something horrifying to happen but everything turns out ok; and there’s even a healthy injection of humor to add levity to certain situations. And Cregger subverts his audience’s expectations so well that, when things eventually do go awry, the reveals are that much more frightening. Second, excellent camerawork does a great job of submersing the viewer into the film’s horror, with a standout feature being how tracking shows make chase scenes disturbingly visceral. Lastly, I was very much on board with the film’s horror style. Each “scare” feels original and distinct, and leans more mysterious than gory – though there is plenty of blood. And what I appreciated most about the movie’s horror is that there’s great payoff: you’re given a definitive and satisfying answer to all of the mystery and horror by the time the film concludes. You therefore not only get excellent horror, but also horror with a purpose.
As for the story, it’s strong in both structure and content, which makes for an interesting and fulfilling watch. Regarding structure, the movie tells a comprehensive and engaging tale through the assembly of multiple characters’ point-of-view (POV). This is because the movie is broken up into chapters, with each centering around a specific character and revealing what they did before and/or after the students’ disappearance. Taking this approach allows Cregger to shed light on all of the nooks and crannies within the movie’s core sub-plots so that, going into the finale, the viewer has a full grasp of how things led up to that point. You’re only given the plot in chunks, so you feel more engaged with the plot because you’re able to eventually connect the dots across plot threads and have to wait in anticipation for what comes next. As for content, the story works well on multiple levels to provide satisfaction in the short and long term. For the short term, the story is able to deliver an interesting and satisfying answer to film’s central question of why seventeen kids suddenly disappeared one night. And for the long term, I think that the movie adeptly explores multiple themes throughout its run time, including the importance of deep and personal relationships for having a fulfilling life, or how people can often resort to weapons – even if they must weaponize other people – in times of desperation. As a result, the movie can be enjoyed for both its entertainment value and thematic appeal.
The main characters come across as authentic as well, due to solid narrative structure, writing, and acting. Because the story is delivered through multiple characters’ POV, this tactic also has the effect of brilliantly fleshing out the main characters and the world writ large. So, watching the film feels like watching real people in a real town, trying to find answers for a not-so-realistic tragedy. Characters are written as multi-faceted, filled with positive traits, obvious flaws, and plenty of originality. And excellent acting breathes life into the characters, with the true standouts being Garner’s performance as the messy but endearing Justine Gandy, and Christopher’s performance as the reserved yet resilient Alex Lilly. The combination of strong structure, writing, and acting, thus gives us characters that we can easily relate to and strongly care about.
My only gripe with the film is that the “big reveal” leads directly into the finale without pause. Because there’s no meaningful gap between these two key plot points, characters don’t have the time to internalize the new information they’ve learned and determine the most appropriate action to take. The movie simply chugs along rather, leading to a finale that feels more improvised than planned. While some could argue that this chain of events feels more natural – and therefore a good fit for the realistic tone that the movie is trying to strike – I still hold that this decision leads to an unstructured finale; additionally, the lack of structure results in certain characters’ actions having pretty much no impact on the final resolution. So while I still think that the story is mostly satisfying, the major question not being answered until the very end makes the ending feel slightly messy and rushed.
Conclusion
In sum, Weapons makes for an incredibly enthralling, suspenseful, and thrilling watch. The movie effectively gives you goosebumps and has you guessing until the end, offers an entertaining and thought-provoking story, and presents characters to root for. While I wish that the movie had stuck the landing, the film still gives the viewer plenty of great stuff to stick their teeth into. So I highly recommend you check out Weapons when you get the chance (the later at night the better); if horror / suspense isn’t your thing, then this is the perfect reason to get out of your comfort zone.