Weapons Has a Secret ‘Weapon’... and That’s Why It’s a Great Horror Movie

Full spoilers travel for Weapons.

It’s clip to clasp your arms retired to the broadside and contention towards your nearest cinema, due to the fact that Weapons is present successful theaters. Coming courtesy of Zach Cregger, manager of Barbarian and the upcoming Resident Evil reboot, Weapons is simply a barn burner of a fearfulness film, lasting arsenic 1 of the year’s astir distinctive and accomplished theatrical offerings truthful far. IGN’s Tom Jorgensen echoed this sentiment successful his 9/10 Weapons review, saying that Cregger manages to instrumentality his “blend of unbearable hostility and acheronian wit to a caller level of razor-sharpness.” Weapons was already heavy anticipated by genre fans due to the fact that of its beardown marketing, but present that critics are raving, it’s definite to beryllium among the astir talked astir archetypal films of 2025.

But what makes Weapons truthful creatively successful? We’ve already had a fistful of coagulated fearfulness entries truthful acold this year, specified arsenic Sinners, Companion, and Final Destination Bloodlines. What puts Weapons adjacent the apical of that list? The reply is that the movie has a secret, well, weapon: its quality to beryllium genuinely unpredictable. In a genre that’s arsenic beloved for giving fans precisely what they expect arsenic what they mightiness not, Weapons is cautiously crafted to support viewers uneasy by not letting what the movie’s really doing go evident to the assemblage until adjacent the precise end. By embracing some communicative and tonal unpredictability successful specified a wide fashion, Weapons doesn’t conscionable usage astonishment arsenic a tool; it makes astonishment its full identity.

Weapons and a Fluid Foundation

As revealed by the film’s trailers, Weapons takes spot 1 period aft 17 children from the aforesaid schoolroom successful the municipality of Maybrook disappeared into the night. The movie has an ensemble formed and regularly shifts perspectives, ne'er genuinely settling connected a azygous main protagonist (although Julia Garner arsenic people teacher Justine Gandy is the closest) arsenic it explores assorted individuals and however they’ve been affected by the situation. This benignant of operation isn’t thing novel, but the mode Cregger deploys the normal serves 2 purposes: to let the uncover of important accusation astir the cardinal enigma to beryllium delayed arsenic agelong arsenic imaginable without annoying the assemblage (since we’re ever learning something narratively caller with whichever quality we’re following), and besides to acclimatize viewers to the array of tonal registers the movie plans to usage by indicating that we’ll beryllium pursuing an array of antithetic characters.

From the infinitesimal the “Justine” rubric paper appears connected screen, we recognize that we’ll beryllium seeing events from aggregate perspectives and jumping backmost and distant on the timeline. Subconsciously, this method besides prepares the assemblage for however tonally disparate the movie plans to beryllium from country to scene, sometimes adjacent from bushed to beat. Early on, viewers mightiness consciousness a spot confused arsenic to wherever the fearfulness is successful this fearfulness film, with galore scenes successful the archetypal fractional hr having either a somber oregon humorous flair. The erstwhile is to beryllium expected with an full municipality having a schoolroom of children ripped retired of it, but the second is the concealed condiment that reveals Cregger’s existent conceit: that helium virtually “weaponizes” the equilibrium of solemn quality drama, off-kilter wit and expected scares to guarantee the assemblage ne'er rather knows what the movie volition bash next.

This perpetual uneasiness heightens the consciousness of panic due to the fact that it makes it overmuch harder to foretell precisely erstwhile the movie volition amusement thing terrifying. Not knowing whether the adjacent large bushed volition marque you squirm in, leap retired of, oregon autumn laughing retired of your spot is what makes Weapons specified a thrilling moviegoing experience. But there’s much to the film’s occurrence than having this benignant of feel. Many mediocre to unspeakable genre movies diagnostic “random worldly happening” and terrible tonal whiplash lone to autumn connected their face. The quality is Cregger’s adept bid of the technique, of knowing precisely erstwhile to deploy humor, heart, oregon fearfulness without immoderate of them undercutting each other, that proves him to beryllium 1 of the astir promising up and coming fearfulness filmmakers.

A Time for Twists

Another portion of Weapons’ unpredictable quality is however it takes vantage of transitions betwixt points of view. Whenever the movie is astir to displacement perspectives, it tends to extremity connected thing scary and bizarre that recontextualizes the full scenario, raising questions the assemblage volition beryllium chewing connected during the adjacent section. This creates anticipation for the eventual answers portion besides broadening the scope of the communicative arsenic it moves further along. What archetypal appears to beryllium a specified enigma astir wherefore the kids each ran distant dilatory unravels to uncover greater supernatural levels that are inactive a information to the characters successful the contiguous tense. This bulb peel communicative operation isn’t conscionable gratifying to ticker play out, but besides makes a large subversion arsenic to the contents of the communicative compared to its presentation.

The eventual reply arsenic to what’s happening present is remarkably aged school: rather literally, a witch did it. Gladys (Amy Madigan), the aunt of Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), the 1 pupil successful Justine’s people who didn’t disappear, is simply a witch who is down each the acheronian goings-on successful Maybrook. She’s taken implicit Alex’s location by hypnotizing his parents (and aboriginal his classmates, who she’s keeping successful the basement), and seemingly needs them to rejuvenate her body, though precisely however and wherefore is near a spot vague. What makes the witch uncover enactment is however it’s fundamentally smuggled into the structure. The opening acts bespeak the movie volition beryllium thing much stylistically modern, truthful the twist that what we’re truly doing is successful the acheronian fairy communicative wheelhouse gets to play retired similar an existent surprise, adjacent though this cognition elucidates each of the unexplained idiosyncrasies that came before.

This “twist arsenic genre clarification” method is thing Cregger besides utilized successful his 2022 movie Barbarian. That movie was what I’ve referred to arsenic a “plot twist transportation machine,” a descriptor that works some for that movie and the Cregger-produced but Drew Hancock-directed introduction Companion. While some of those movies are perfectly enjoyable connected their ain terms, Weapons is simply a important upgrade due to the fact that of Cregger’s much audacious publication and improved ceremonial discipline. Weapons isn’t conscionable a slickly produced roller coaster moving from uncover to reveal; it’s a well-crafted and strikingly unorthodox representation that expands its affectional scope arsenic it narrows its genre focus. It takes superior directorial musculus to marque a horde of third-graders chasing an aged pistillate done the suburbs similar a battalion of zombies and virtually tearing her limb from limb simultaneously unsettling, hilarious, and dramatically satisfying, but Cregger pulls it off.

Ready, set, go!

What Other Horror Movies Should Learn From Weapons

This is not to accidental that each fearfulness movie should transcript the Weapons playbook. What makes the movie enactment goes deeper than “it’s scary and funny!” But erstwhile looking astatine the past decennary oregon truthful of fearfulness films, the ones that person risen to the apical of the heap stock galore of the aforesaid virtues, namely skilled directors who wed unsocial sensibilities and beardown craftsmanship, a greater affectional scope than simply “tense oregon frightening,” and a committedness to what makes the fearfulness genre enjoyable without trying to beryllium “better” than it. Movies successful this class person been helmed by a assortment of talented filmmakers, specified arsenic M. Night Shyamalan, Jordan Peele, Dan Trachtenberg, and Arkasha Stevenson, and Zach Cregger present finds himself among specified esteemed company.

The existent acquisition that aboriginal movies should instrumentality from Weapons is the aforesaid 1 I’ve harped astir earlier connected IGN: that studios should fto filmmakers marque the movies they privation to make. Horror is amended astatine this than galore different genres due to the fact that of the little budgets they thin to have, but adjacent they tin autumn into the aforesaid traps arsenic big-budget films similar sloppy adaptations, those with insubstantial bladed narratives, oregon ill-conceived bequest sequels. As for problems endemic to the fearfulness genre specifically, the deluge of movies that crook their monster of the time into an abstract menace that’s expected to beryllium immoderate one-to-one analogue for “grief” oregon “trauma” has chopped galore a promising premise down astatine the knees. Smarter storytellers recognize that specified thematic seasoning should beryllium precisely that: seasoning, not a blunt unit metaphor. The monster being “depression” is truthful overmuch little amusive than the monster being a monster.

It whitethorn dependable simple, but “strong manager making an unembarrassed genre movie successful their ain style” truly is the large takeaway. It volition ever beryllium the large takeaway, due to the fact that it’s truly each you request to marque a satisfying movie experience. If each movie that entered the cinemas followed that principle, possibly a movie similar Weapons wouldn’t consciousness similar specified a standout.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You tin travel his fixations connected Twitter.