In 2022, for reasons that are still a mystery to some, writer/director Zach Cregger’s twisty, bizarre Barbarian became something of a hit among even non-horror enthusiasts, perhaps because it leaned more into the mystery of its story than the horror-thriller elements (which are still quite prevalent).
Now, Cregger returns with an even deeper looping mystery in Weapons, centering on a teacher named Justine (Julia Garner), who arrives to her elementary school class one day only to discover that all but one of her students has vanished, all on the same night at the exact same time. The incident leaves the community reeling, with many pointing the finger at Justine as the cause and/or potential solution to the mass disappearance.
Much like Barbarian, Weapons tells its story then leaves us at a cliffhanger while it doubles back and tells a portion of the story again from the perspective of a different character. We start with Justine, whose car gets tagged with the word “WITCH,” and she receives threatening phone calls at home. The police have cleared her, but she’s still being harassed by the parents of the missing kids. She seeks solace with ex-boyfriend Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), who also happens to be a married police officer. To complicate matters even more, his father-in-law (Toby Huss) is the police captain. Justine wants to do a little investigating on her own, against the advice of the school principal (Benedict Wong). While she looks into where the kids might have gone, a parent (Josh Brolin) of one of the boys is also conducting a detailed search, possibly even coming up with a location worth looking into.
Digging too deep into the secrets of Weapons is dangerous in terms of spoilers, but I can say we get the perspective of nearly every major character, and what is actually going on in this small-ish town is pieced together slowly and methodically, with the sole, un-abducted kid (Cary Christopher as Alex) being a lynch pin in unlocking the mystery. Because filmmaker Cregger opts to tell his story in this non-linear fashion, the film is something of a tradeoff. We lose a certain amount of suspense and momentum, but gain a crackling “What the hell is going on?” energy that kept me guessing throughout. But even when the mystery is cracked, there’s still a great deal of movie left, and so the question shifts to “Where the hell is this going?”
I’m not entirely sure the logic or explanations given make sense or stick the landing in terms of all of the story threads coming together cleanly (although a final-scene narration certainly might give some audience members a sinking feeling). The film has a small handful of effective scares, more than a few truly gruesome, bloody moments, and weirdly, might introduce some to folk horror through a side entrance. Garner does a terrific job playing the strong but messy lead. Sure, Justine might have a drinking problem, and she crosses the line with her students from time to time, but she clearly cares about the the missing kids and will do just about anything to save them, if that’s even an option.
The ensemble is solid here, especially one actor I don’t even want to name because it took me almost until the end of Weapons to recognize her—you do your own homework. There are just enough odd choices and big swings in the writing to give the film points for trying something new within a family corner of horror.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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