Barbarian filmmaker Zach Cregger swings for something bigger with Weapons, and delivers another horror hit. It’s an ambitious, feverish horror mystery that leans into unease from the start and keeps tightening the screws, resulting in an experience that’s eerie, unpredictable, visceral, and not without humour.
The setup is immediately chilling. At 2:17 AM, seventeen children – all from one class – vanish from their homes. One is left behind. The teacher quickly becomes the focus of a panicked, grieving town. What begins as a small-town mystery grows into something far more disturbing. Cregger tells the story in chapters, each centred on a different character. Some offer clarity, others stir the waters. It’s a structure that keeps you off balance in the best way.
Cregger blends nightmarish visuals with sharp bursts of violence and the kind of dread that seeps in slowly. Some scenes are eerie and surreal, others brutal and direct. One involving a peeler is particularly nasty. The tone stays consistent, even as things shift from grounded to increasingly unhinged.
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The cast is very strong across the board. Julia Garner leads with an emotionally complex performance, Josh Brolin brings weight and sorrow to a father wrecked by loss, Alden Ehrenreich adds a jittery kind of tension as a struggling cop, and Amy Madigan provides a memorable turn.
There are some slight pacing stumbles, and at just over two hours, the film runs a touch long. Certain detours do slow the momentum, but these are far from major detractions. Cregger maintains a firm grip on tone throughout, and even when the pace dips, a steady sense of tension keeps things taut.
It’s not just about scares, mystery, or gore — there are strong ideas running underneath. Mob mentality, blame, the need to force sense onto senseless events, and the way children often carry the weight of adult failures. The thematic depth gives the film added heft without leaning too hard on message.
The film’s final act is deliriously entertaining — bloody, surreal, and unexpectedly funny. It’s a bold, satisfyingly deranged payoff that ties the whole thing together without losing the emotional thread.
With Weapons, Cregger proves himself to be one of horror’s most interesting voices. Blending atmosphere, character, scares, and controlled brutality, it stands as one of the genre’s most impressive offerings of the year.
