Starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin, this tale of a school class that disappears drags the audience straight into the deepest shadows of the mind.
One of the standout horror entries of the year, Weapons opens with a child’s narration that reports 17 youngsters have vanished from the tiny town of Maybrook, USA.
Even more unsettling, each child left their house at the exact same moment—2:17 a.m.—apparently of their own accord, and every one of them was enrolled in the same junior‑school class. Only the teacher, Justine (Garner), and a single pupil, Alex (Cary Christopher), remain unaccounted for.
Among the townsfolk fuming over the police’s lack of progress is construction magnate Archer Graff (Brolin), whose son Matthew is among the missing.
Meanwhile, a tipsy Justine finds herself besieged from every direction: threatening phone calls, graffiti branding her car “witch,” and a community convinced she has something to do with the eerie disappearance.
Written and directed by Zach Cregger—who previously delivered the clever 2022 horror Barbarian—Weapons is said to draw inspiration from Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, employing a patchwork of interwoven characters across the San Fernando Valley.
Cregger divides the story into distinct chapters, each spotlighting a different individual. The first segment follows Justine, then Archer, and finally Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), an AA‑affiliated cop with a tangled past with Justine.
The deeper the film delves, the more compelling it becomes. Cregger wisely refrains from spelling out every detail, especially concerning Gladys (Amy Madigan), the inquisitive, orange‑haired senior who haunts the town and even appears in nightmares.
He also knows exactly when to insert the most unsettling imagery—a potato peeler gliding across a cheek, for instance—delivering visceral, flesh‑rending horror in a clean, almost artful manner.
Although it doesn’t match Magnolia in scope or emotional weight, Cregger’s ambition remains undeniable. Is it a critique of Trump‑era America? Paul’s handling of an arrest—going so far as to disable his dashboard camera—hints at commentary on police brutality.
Similarly, the junkie he pursues, a homeless man living in a forest tent and robbing homes to sustain his habit, reflects the nation’s ongoing drug crisis.
Weapons unfolds like a grotesque fairy tale, pulling viewers into the darkest corners of consciousness. The cinematography is vivid, and the performances, particularly Garner’s—fresh from her recent turn as the Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four: First Steps—are striking.
Despite its chilling core, the film is also surprisingly funny, punctuating tension with sharp, well‑timed humor. When Archer experiences a nightmarish vision and shouts, “What the f***?” he could just as well be voicing the collective reaction of the audience.
