Zach Cregger’s Weapons is a bold and fiercely intelligent horror film: it is ambitious, atmospheric, and isn’t afraid to take big swings. Coming off the surprise success of Barbarian, Cregger returns with something even more audacious: a genre film where he mixes social discomfort, emotional intricacy, and raw, unsettling dread without sacrificing entertainment value.
The film begins with a mystery: at 2:17 in the morning, seventeen children leave their homes and vanish into the night, arms out like they are pretending to fly. It is one image, but the reverberations flow through everything else. From here, Weapons morphs into the haunting world of grief and guilt, and the horrifying hysteria that can envelop and poison a whole community. You may see reflections of school shootings or the isolating paranoia of the pandemic, but Cregger gets credit for not hammering it into you. Cregger believes the audience can feel and hold the weight without him needing to tell them where to put it.
Julia Garner is fantastic as Justine Gandy, a teacher caught in a maelstrom of events. After her classroom is empty the next morning, all suspicions fall hard and fast on her. Garner plays it with layered restraint; she’s not only a victim and not only a heroine but a complex, haunted individual. Around her, Cregger builds an ensemble of individuals carrying their own baggage: Josh Brolin as a father with loss; Alden Ehrenreich as a son who is a cop but not a very good one; Austin Abrams as a desperate addict; and Benedict Wong as ONE – if only just ONE – principled but panicked school official. Their stories do not travel in a straight line; indeed, Cregger puts this movie together, that is, he builds it in chapters, jumping across time and perspectives. In this way, the film’s daring structure pays off; the narrative feels healthy and alive, moving along, revealing new truths in old scenes.
The camerawork from Larkin Seiple immerses us in the chaos without overstating its case, and Joe Murphy’s editing keeps us moving quickly through the story’s twists and turns. There’s self-assuredness in every shot, but nothing feels flashy. Cregger knows when to pull back, when to frighten us, and importantly — when to let us relish the absurdity.
Weapons is more than a great horror film. It delivers a thoughtful, searing examination of how fear spreads — how quickly suspicion can become hatred, and how tragedy can break down the narratives we tell ourselves. It’s also a blast to watch. With this film, Cregger establishes himself as one of the most exciting voices in the genre today.
IWMBuzz rates it 4/5 stars.
