“Weapons” is a suburban horror film. Our JP gives his take on Zack Cregger’s latest creepfest starring Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, and Alden Ehrenreich.
Weapons
Warner Bros. Pictures
- Directed by Zach Cregger
- Written by Zach Cregger
- Produced by Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J. D. Lifshitz, Raphael Margules
- Starring Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan
Studio Synopsis:
From New Line Cinema and Zach Cregger, the wholly original mind behind Barbarian, comes a new horror/thriller: “Weapons.” When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance. The film stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary
Christopher, with Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.
J.P.’s Take
“Weapons” is Zack Cregger’s suburban nightmare, which opens with a statement that reads like a national news headline, instantly raising red flags about just how eerie it’s going to be:
‘Last night at 2:17 am every child from Ms. Gandy’s class woke up, got out of bed, went downstairs, opened the front door, walked into the dark …and they never came back…”
Except for one.
It’s a rousing premise like this that completely grabs my attention as I uncover this disturbing mystery. What we discover is both moving and unsettling, revealing a dark truth lurking behind this eerie scenario. To enhance the atmosphere, Cregger introduces the tale through the narration of a young girl, who shares her perspective on why this narrative is such a shocking tragedy. Without spoiling anything further, she conveys that numerous lives have been lost and that bizarre occurrences have taken place during the event.
Cregger (writer and director of “Barbarian”) knows just how to set the mood and allow the story to get under your skin, before unleashing the shock of it all later on. The initial part of the story flourishes in its unsettlingly calm scenes, giving off an AMSR (autonomous sensory meridian response) vibe, as even the tiniest sounds and movements can send chills down your spine.
We explore Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) tormented journey, as she deals with the scrutiny from the parents of her missing class. Her account triggers a chain of events involving multiple characters as she begins digging for the truth. She follows the only child left from her class, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), as she makes her way to his home. In the process, she experiences strange knocks at her door, vandalism to her property, and even spooky dreams with Alex as the focus. To drown her anguish, Justine resorts to drinking and staying cooped up in her home.
The buildup is palpable as these instances are accented by slow camera pulls and minimal dialogue. The soundtrack moans and shrieks in irregular patterns, while things that happen in the background prey upon your subconscious. You automatically get the eerie feeling that something malevolent is in the air. It’s been a while since I’ve watched a horror / thriller this chilling, and I could feel my pulse start to race.
What gave me the chills during all of this was when Justine began looking for clues about her missing class. She sets up camp outside Alex’s house, waiting to catch a glimpse of his parents. As night descends, she dozes off in her car, when a woman (who appears to be Alex’s mother) unexpectedly strolls out from the house. The woman raises a pair of scissors as if she’s ready to attack someone and approaches Justine’s SUV. However, she halts and looks through the driver’s side window before moving to the rear of the car.
What we hear off-camera is the woman opening Justine’s trunk as she slips into the passenger seat, leans over, and cuts off a lock of her hair. Yet, the only thing we see is the woman’s hand as she snips Justine’s hair. It’s one of the most hair-raising moments to kick off the rest of this horror romp. I felt quite uneasy and flinched at what I saw, and the crowd reacted with gasps as well.
Despite his deep resentment towards Ms. Gandy, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), the father of missing son Matthew Graff (Luke Speakman), joins her on the mission, as he’s armed with clues of his own. He fully believes she’s to blame, in a roundabout way, she’s the problem, and also the link to the mysterious disappearance of 17 children from her class. This is where we see multiple points of view from other key players involved. It’s an effective method that allows viewers to tie up loose ends, while we sympathize with the town’s folk. This method also allows us to unlock vital information within this enigma.
From there, the situation becomes frantic when each of the characters is dragged into conspiracy, and also where the fun begins. Towards the end, all the vantage points converge for the final account from Alex’s point of view. You’ll unravel the freakishly weird truth behind his family and why he’s spared from this tragedy. Something Cregger also excels at is the perfectly timed comical moments that fall in between some of the more eerie scenes. Luckily, the jump scares and gory scenes were limited to just two or three moments, but they were still quite impactful, and the entire cast did a wonderful job selling this event.
Some of other cast members are Alden Ehrenreich as Paul Morgan, a corrupt police officer; Austin Abrams as James, a homeless drug addict and burglar; Benedict Wong as Marcus Miller, the school principal; Amy Madigan as Gladys, Alex’s “aunt;” Toby Huss as Ed Locke, the police captain and Paul’s father-in-law; Sara Paxton as Erica, the mother of Bailey; Justin Long as Gary, the father of Bailey; June Diane Raphael as Donna Morgan, Paul’s wife and Ed’s daughter; and Whitmer Thomas as Mr. Lilly, Alex’s father.
As “Weapons” came to a close, I found myself laughing with relief, yet still very much disturbed by how everything played out. The ending is gory yet appropriate …even satisfying. I squirmed, cringed, grasped, and chuckled throughout this creep fest. I would even sit through it again because it’s just that weird and stirring.
Official Site: Weapons
