A Twisted, Humorous, And Scary Suburban Nightmare From The Director Of Barbarian

There’s one thing eerie concerning the suburbs at evening. Numerous motion pictures (particularly from the Nineteen Seventies) have instructed us that huge cities are scary when the solar goes down, however anybody who lives in a suburban neighborhood can let you know that when the darkness comes creeping in, every little thing feels barely off. Strolling down an empty suburban road, no sounds besides your footfalls and bugs buzzing, the occasional blue glow of a TV flickering in somebody’s bed room window — it is sufficient to provide the creeps.

Zach Cregger’s “Weapons” understands this, which is why its opening moments — wherein we see a number of youngsters depart their homes at 2:17 AM and run silently by means of the darkish streets to a vacation spot unknown — are so rattling unsettling. Slicing to grainy doorbell cam footage solely enhances the menace. One thing may be very fallacious right here.

With “Weapons,” Cregger, who helmed the wonderful, endlessly stunning “Barbarian,” has put collectively a movie that faucets into very fashionable fears with out laying it on too thick. The American panorama is a spot at present dominated by mistrust and concern, and concern drummed up by confused dad and mom appears to reign supreme. Mother and father go to city conferences now and shout about fictional issues they noticed on Fox Information, outraged for the sake of being outraged. It is sufficient to drive everybody insane. Paranoia is all over the place. “Weapons” finds intelligent methods to weaponize that. 

After the movie’s preliminary set-up, wherein all however one scholar from the identical elementary college class vanishes into the evening within the city of Maybrook, Cregger crafts a movie that owes a substantial debt to ensemble tales like Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.” Like these movies, “Weapons” is telling a giant, sprawling story from a number of completely different factors of view, and because the narrative unfolds, we turn into conscious of a a lot greater image. It is bold stuff, and the truth that Cregger pulls it off in a fashion that appears nearly easy is a testomony to his storytelling expertise.

When the youngsters go lacking, everybody desires solutions, particularly the dad and mom. Since the entire youngsters had been a part of the identical classroom, suspicion falls on instructor Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), a form however awkward younger lady who might or might not have a consuming downside. Ms. Gandy is simply as puzzled as everybody else, and begins to do her personal sleuthing into the thriller. She’s not alone. Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), the daddy of one of many lacking children, is satisfied Ms. Gandy is aware of greater than she’s saying and he takes it upon himself to start out learning the clues. Then there’s native beat cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), who has a reference to Ms. Gandy and a few secrets and techniques of his personal. Amongst this gaggle of characters, Cregger additionally throws within the sympathetic college principal (Benedict Wong), a drug addict not above stealing to get his repair (Austin Abrams), and younger Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), the one child from Ms. Gandy’s class who did not go lacking.

To say extra would do the movie a disservice, as a result of like “Barbarian,” “Weapons” is a film the place the factor of shock is essential. Cregger’s script slowly pulls again the curtain, ultimately giving us definitive solutions as to what’s going on, however by the point we get to the reality, “Weapons” has gone to darkish, twisted, and surprisingly humorous locations. Cregger has a background in comedy and has a novel grasp on mixing horror and humor. “Weapons” is incessantly scary however there are moments (just like the ghoulish grand finale) that had me cackling with glee. Horror and comedy are subjective genres, and mashing them collectively efficiently isn’t any simple feat. 

Cregger has solely grown as a filmmaker, and his management of temper and ambiance right here is improbable. He correctly avoids going heavy on jumpscares and as an alternative leans into the thriller of all of it — concern of the unknown is one thing we’re all very aware of, and “Weapons” exploits that. It additionally paints an correct portrait of suburban life, the place liquor shops and dive bars share area with finely manicured homesteads. The place there’s all the time one home that appears unusually darkish, unusually quiet, unusually secretive. The suburbs are a lie America tells itself; a spot the place security is an phantasm and harmful issues are lurking simply behind somebody’s entrance door.

“Weapons” additionally makes the attention-grabbing determination to make its characters inherently flawed. Garner’s Justine Gandy is likable and sympathetic but in addition susceptible to creating a sequence of unwise selections. To be clear, these aren’t the usual dumb selections so many horror heroines make, however reasonably selections you and I would make if we had been in an identical state of affairs. Then there’s Brolin’s understandably upset father, who refuses to easily sit again and hope the native authorities determine issues out. He is brash and impolite and even a bit unlikable, however we will perceive the place he is coming from.

Certainly, all of the characters who populate “Weapons” really feel real in a means that may come throughout as disarming. This has the sneaky impact of constructing us invested of their tales and worrying concerning the probably horrible fates that await them. Reward additionally have to be given to Amy Madigan, who’s pitch-perfect in a difficult position that I will not dare spoil.

A part of what made “Barbarian” so particular is the way in which it saved viewers continually guessing as to the place the story was going. “Weapons” takes an identical strategy, though I believe it is essential to say that Cregger’s script is not dishonest or being stunning for the sake of being stunning. There is a methodology to this insanity, and the movie truly loses a slight little bit of its energy because the final act fills within the blanks and provides us solutions as to what’s been happening. On the similar time, “Weapons” additionally correctly leaves sure issues deliberately unexplained just because on this planet of horror motion pictures, some issues are past rationalization.

An exquisite combination of unhealthy vibes and macabre enjoyable, “Weapons” is likely one of the finest horror motion pictures of the yr, and additional affirmation that writer-director Zach Cregger is likely one of the most fun voices within the style proper now. 

/Movie Score: 9 out of 10

“Weapons” opens in theaters on August 8, 2025.