- Directed by Zach Cregger
- Written by Zach Cregger
- Release Date: 08/08/2025
- Runtime: 128 Minutes
Spoiler free mini review – This bizarre film has you questioning everything as it unravels it’s unique plot from multiple perspectives. Plenty of unnerving moments created from sketch comedian turned horror director [Cregger].
Regardless of how you feel about the bittersweet ending Cregger has achieved something remarkable here, crafting a cruel and twisted bedtime story of the sort the Brother’s Grimm might have spun. – Variety
The trend of brilliant sketch comedy writers/actors (i.e. Jordan Peele & Zach Cregger) trying their hand at the horror genre, has been a really fun development in the world of film. By their nature, talented sketch writers are creative in a way that sets them apart from traditional screenwriters. [Cregger] does what few have done before and follows up the lauded film Barbarian (2022), with an equally twisted and masterfully crafted movie in Weapons. The film portrays the same few days from multiple perspectives, each time granting the audience with a new morsel of information, that deepens the plot and adds to the accumulating dread.
Weapons is not for the faint of heart. Most definitely another NECOT (not everyone’s cup of tea.) There are gruesome moments, children in peril, and people running and screaming in a demonic manner, having been weaponized by witch craft. Cregger and DP Larkin Seiple manage to create an uneasiness with even the simplest mise en scene, like an empty school hallway, or the outside of a house. Hell, they even manage to make the simple act of opening a front door chilling. Not without it’s foibles, there are a couple moments that did feel out of place to me, such as the giant floating gun in Brolin’s dream sequence. While some may find the finale underwhelming, I think it fits perfectly with the themes of the film. Riding on the edge of your seat for 2 hours until the gut punch at the end, only to be left in a daze, as if you as the viewer have been hexed as well.
Amy Madigan steals the show, bringing her Academy nominated chops to the utterly terrifying Aunt Gladys. The costume and character design of the “witch” could not have been more rebarbative, in all the right ways. All the other actors did a great job of bringing the eeriness of the situation to life, with another standout being Austin Adams as James, who’s performance took me by surprise. Introduced as what seems to be an inconsequential strung out druggy, James (Adams) becomes more and more integral to the story as it marches on. The soundtrack becomes it’s own type of character, with precisely placed stabs and swells that grow more dissonant and disturbing as the movie goes on, which is all the more impressive knowing that Cregger was also a co-composer for the score.
I would recommend Weapons to horror fans, people that enjoyed Barbarian, and fans of the bizarre and macabre in general.