‘Weapons’ Review

5 minutes in, I was hooked.

30 minutes in, I had a smile on my face that rarely abated for the remainder of the film.

45 minutes in, I stopped trying to figure what’s going to happen next, and just strapped in to enjoy the insane ride to come.

And when the credits rolled, I sat in my seat overjoyed, knowing I just finished a film that felt uniquely designed for my sensibilities, a film that I’m excited to revisit time and again in the years to come.

With ‘Weapons’, director Zach Cregger has created a modern fairy tale, devoid of any morality lesson, equally likely to scare you as to make you burst out laughing, oftentimes both at the exact same moment.

One morning, at 2:17AM, 17 children from Maybrook, Pennsylvania, all from the same classroom, got up out of bed, ran out their front doors, and were never seen again. ‘Weapons’ tells the story of Maybrook as its citizens process the mystery of these children’s disappearance, through all their grief, anger and confusion. The story is told by jumping through the perspectives of these people, including Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), the teacher under suspicion from a town certain she must know more than she’s letting on; Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), a father of one of the missing children, convinced of Justine’s guilt and the police force’s ineptitude; and Paul Morgan (Aldren Ehrenreich), a police officer who has a past with Justine, dedicated to doing anything possible to uncover what happened to the children.

Much like ‘Barbarian’, Zach Cregger’s previous film, ‘Weapons’ is comfortable in both horror and comedy and surprisingly effective as a straight drama as well, portraying the very real grief and anger that pervades a small town grappling with such a devastating mystery. Also like that previous film, ‘Weapons’ is a delirious funhouse, dialing up its WTF-ness to a nigh unsustainable level; making the mystery and mayhem more bewildering and terrifying with each passing scene only to masterfully pay off all of the buildup in the most satisfying, chaotic climax possible.

Coming as he does from a comedy background, Zach Cregger impresses once again, directing this tonal rollercoaster with brio. He shows an expert skill in his filmmaking, using framing and camera movements to set up jump scares that don’t always occur. He toys with audience expectations, resulting in a horror film thick with dread and anticipation, but in retrospect relatively light in its jump scares. The cinematography, sound design, and music all work in concert to deliver a coherent world even through all of the wonderfully exhilarating tonal whiplash.

Cregger’s deftness across genre is perhaps best exemplified in a three shot sequence during the Josh Brolin segment.

Shot 1: Brolin delivers a vulnerable, heartbreaking monologue.

Shot 2: Jump scare.

Shot 3: Laugh out loud punchline.

With an assured management of the tone, Cregger ensures that the moments of humor are never discordant with the frights, but are apiece of the larger whole: this examination of a town confused and grieving at the loss of seventeen young kids, acting out in ways both sensible and insane.

In a testament to both the writing and the performances, all of the characters feel like fully realized, flawed individuals doing their best to process their traumas. From the principal at the school played by Benedict Wong to the local drug addict played by Austin Abrams, everybody feels like a person, consisting of a million tiny details that hint at a life beyond the confines of this film. This attention to character adds gravitas to the drama and elevates the horror to something impactful and visceral.

And on the horror front: just because this movie will make you laugh, and the number of jump scares may not match other horror classics, its sense of dread and danger as well as its delicious use of gore prove memorable and affecting. You may be laughing at some of the more gory moments, but that does nothing to make the carnage on screen any less creative, gruesome and terrible.

‘Weapons’ is an absolute blast. In its moments of comedy and its jumps of fright, this is a film that pulls off a near miraculous balancing act. The result is a rare, memorable madcap horror mystery sure to leave you smiling, even when you have to cover your eyes.

Weapons
Rated R for strong bloody violence and grisly images, language throughout, some sexual content and drug use.
Running Time: 2 hours and 8 minutes

Director Zach Cregger
Writers Zach Cregger
Stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan
Rating R
Running Time 128 Minutes
Genres Horror, Mystery