by Maddie Baron ‘27

Weapons quickly became a raging success following its August 8 release, with a 94-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and almost an 8/10 on IMDb, already making six times the $38 million budget. Written and directed by Zach Cregger, and made to reward those who are willing to test their comfort and patience, Weapons centers on an eerie small-town mystery: one night at 2:17 a.m., 17 children, from the same third-grade class in Maybrook, Pennsylvania, suddenly disappear. Only one child remains. As this horror-touched drama unfolds, Cregger crafts a genre-bending experience that blends mystery, dark humor, and supernatural dread.

In the aftermath of the class’s mysterious disappearance, teacher Justine Gandy, played by Julia Garner, is blamed while the community grapples with grief and confusion. The film shifts through multiple points of view: Justine, the grieving father Archer Graff, played by Josh Brolin, police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), principal Marcus Miller, (Benedict Wong), James Anthony, a homeless drug addict played by Austin Abrams, and the lone surviving student, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), with each character revealing new clues and intensifying the tension. 

The story unspools slowly, building dread through the shifting viewpoints and eerie soundtrack. Cregger’s chapter-style storytelling is full of twists, turns, and rewinding time, crafting a labyrinth of mystery for watchers to unravel and uncover. 

Garner delivers an outstanding presentation of the flawed yet sympathetic Justine, torn between grief and obsession. Brolin shines as a father unraveling under tragic pressure, and Christopher shines as the silenced, haunted survivor. However, Weapons might seem like your typical supernatural horror film, beneath lies commentary on adult failure, small-town paranoia, grooming, and grief. The visual of a floating gun halfway through the movie looms as a dark allusion to real-world school tragedies, evoking an uncomfortably haunting response.

The strikingly beautiful cinematography and haunting sound design intensify the tension, ensuring that every frame feels purposeful. The precise attention to detail when it came to the atmosphere makes the film so immersive that it’s emotionally draining.

Weapons is an “I’d-give-my-left-foot-to-watch-this-again-for-the-first-time“ kind of movie. Beautifully original and fun, it’s a horror experience that stays with you long after the credits.  Weapons overturns expectations, blurs lines between horror and dark comedy, and induces unsettling revelations. 

Grade: A