Weapons: A Superb Roller Coaster Follow-Up

Writer-director Zach Cregger burst on the scene with 2022’s Barbarian, a horror film beloved by both critics and audiences. As his profile has continued to rise since its release, much of the world has been left waiting with baited breath for his next project, but that project is now upon us. Weapons has seen quite the marketing campaign, most of it revolved around its missing children premise. Building anticipation over time, the film has seen plenty of changes in casting as a result of the various strikes in past years but in the end, Cregger landed on the right group of actors who benefit from his stellar script and direction, crafting a tense, yet compelling, psychological horror that takes audiences on a roller coaster of emotions. A rather grim film overall, its use of humor helps to balance things out nicely, resulting in a surprisingly hilarious watch at times. Now don’t be mistaken, without giving anything away, the film has plenty of more surprises up its sleeve as it is far from light fare and something that does not hold back its punches. Featuring a structure that won’t be for everyone, it maintains a sense of discomfort throughout even though the structure may interfere with the story’s momentum at times as it finds its groove.

As mentioned, the main selling point of Weapons is its premise that saw all the children, except for a boy named Alex (Cary Christopher), from the same class disappear under mysterious circumstances, all vanishing into the middle of the night at the same time. Tearing the Pennsylvania town apart, its residents, specifically the parents of the missing children, were left looking for answers. As the situation became increasingly volatile and the police investigation continued to go nowhere, the people were looking for someone to blame. Therefore Justine (Garner), the teacher of the children from that class, made for an easy target as they were convinced that she had played a part in the children’s disappearance. While this was clearly not the case, convincing a town that had already made up their minds about her proved to be a futile task as she found herself the target of harassment and intimidation campaigns. In spite of Justine’s trauma, all she wanted to do was to go back to work, which was probably not the best choice at that time. The loudest dissenter of hers was Archer (Brolin), the father of a missing boy who was far from satisfied with sitting on the sidelines, he had her in his sights as part of his own investigation into his son’s disappearance.

Using an anthology structure, the film jumps between multiple characters, telling the same story from multiple perspectives. Besides Justine, Archer, and Alex, Paul (Ehrenreich), an old friend of Justine’s and a local police officer, James (Austin Abrams), a transient young man looking to turn his life around, and Marcus (Benedict Wong), the principal of Justine’s school, all figured into the story. From there, all those perspectives are pieced together to tell a larger story that truly picks up steam come the third act. As far as the premise is concerned, it is only the beginning but as that part of the story slowly reveals itself over the course of the film, the other angle of the story, as it relates to grief and the loss of a child, is arguably just as compelling. The associated feeling of losing a child could lead anyone to spiral though in this case, a town. Making for a fertile environment for tension and drama, it adds another dimension to the mystery as Justine and Archer became unlikely partners in trying to solve what really happened. Through Justine’s relationship with Alex and the rest of her class and Archer with his son, the two remained invested in the case and their unwillingness to give up made them targets for the larger forces at play.

The eventual reveal of the antagonist is a jump scare in and of itself as they bide their time lurking in the distance. A character who enters the scene with a clear indication that something is off, one can’t help but be suspicious of them. However, it did not take long for those suspicions to be confirmed. Another possible point of contention can be their perceived lack of motivations in their actions, including facilitating the abduction of 17 children. Undoubtedly evil and someone whose methods and erratic personality can be scary given the right circumstances, their plan was running smoothly until the inevitable moment when control is lost as the walls closed in, setting up an intense final act leading to one of the best sequences of the year so far.

As mentioned, Cregger’s script balances different tones near seamlessly in creating an interesting character study that just happened to also be a horror. Playing with group dynamics and mob mentalities to lay the groundwork in setting the tone for the fractured town setting, this left Justine and Archer isolated with one being a target of the town, and the other being an analog for all the parents who had lost a child. Meanwhile, the other parallel sub-stories were merely a means to an end for the larger story but that did not make them any less valid. Though some can argue that the structure could have been better adjusted to tell the story in a more concise way, these perspectives help paint a much fuller picture and make characters worth investing in. On the directing side, Cregger takes his style to another level and imbues Weapons with an atmosphere that leaves audiences with a consistent sense of unease as they are put in the shoes of characters that are put through the ringer. Horror is at its most effective when audiences are emotionally invested in its characters and to Cregger’s credit, he knocks it out of the park here, with each contributing to the overall story.

The strength of the characters can also be attributed to the great performances from the case across the board. Leading the way, Garner and Brolin, as Justine and Archer, both deliver strong performances as haunted characters experiencing different types of pressure. Despite all the external pressure Justine faced due to the disappearance of the children, she put them first, including Alex, a kind of behavior may have played into the misconceptions being made about her. An ordeal that left her somewhat rattled, Garner shines in bringing out a vulnerability that further sells the character. Brolin’s Asher is perhaps a less showy role, but he shows strength in the midst of a similar vulnerability as a character experiencing a loss while not letting him be consumed by anger. Above all else, the two were certainly ready for whatever the film threw at them as the arc of their characters was among its highlights. On the other hand, the supporting cast also delivers in limited roles but ultimately, it is Garner and Brolin’s show. That being said, Christopher possesses poise beyond his years as Alex, a well-written character that stands out amongst the chaos.

At the end of the day, Weapons is a superb follow-up, that sees Zach Cregger step it up with a psychological horror, that takes audiences on a compelling roller coaster led by strong writing and performances.

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.