Weapons Movie Review: Six-Act Horror That Swaps Jump Scares for Slowburn Terrors
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
After portraying the victim of a Satanic cult in ‘Apartment 7A‘, the prequel to the horror classic ‘Rosemary’s Baby‘, Julia Garner returns to the genre with ‘Weapons‘, playing a teacher suspected of being a witch when 17 of her 18 students vanish on the same night.
Directed and written by Zach Cregger, ‘Weapons‘ opens with an eerie sequence of little kids waking up after 2 a.m., climbing out of bed, stepping outside, and running off into the night. Nobody knows where. Seventeen children, all classmates, vanish from the same town on the same night, all leaving at exactly 2:17 a.m, a fact captured on several home security cameras, leaving the town shaken and parents desperate for answers. Some direct their anger and suspicion toward the young teacher, Elizabeth Gandy (Julia Garner). “Why only her class?” one angry parent demands.
‘Weapons‘ is intriguingly divided into six distinct chapters, each centering on a different character linked to the mystery of the missing children. Some of these connections don’t become apparent until the second half. The first two chapters follow Elizabeth coping with the fallout of becoming the town’s “witch.” Then the focus shifts to angry dad Archer, played by Josh Brolin (‘Dune’, ‘Avengers’, ‘What If…?’), convinced she’s guilty and determined to run his own investigation. Elizabeth however thinks Alex (Cary Christopher), the only child who didn’t disappear from the class, might hold the key to the mystery.
The third act turns to Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a cop friend of Elizabeth, who admits he’s not directly involved in the case. As a viewer, you start to wonder why we’re following someone who might have nothing to do with the central conflict. And the fourth act of ‘Weapons’ is even stranger, following druggie/petty thief James (Austin Abrams) after a tense encounter with cop Paul. But James’ perspective ends up being a dynamic stretch, it’s well-paced, slightly comedic, and starting off as an extremely random thread that entertainingly winds its way back to the missing children.
Benedict Wong (‘Doctor Strange’, ‘3 Body Problem‘), as the unsuspecting school principal Marcus, gets to headline the most horrifying chapter of ‘Weapons’, where the supernatural antagonist is finally revealed. From the fifth act onward, the gore, blood, and horror elements take over, turning the story into a chilling, dark horror comedy. Folklore horror, creepy rituals, and bloodied twists dominate the second half of the film, with some moments played subtly and others diving into over-the-top body horror, like a scene where a character, in self-defense, peels the skin off their assailant with a literal peeler, as if shaving vegetables for dinner. Yes, get ready to squirm in discomfort and disbelief.
The climactic act of ‘Weapons’ turns the focus on Alex, excellently portrayed by child actor Cary Christopher, a quiet boy, revealing how he ended up being the only student in Elizabeth Gandy’s class to not disappear into the night. The truth is twisted, sad, and sinister. The slow-burn pace pays off by culminating into an ending that’s terrifying and comedic at the same time. Since the narration is non-linear, some of the POVs feature repetitive scenes that could’ve been trimmed down for a tighter runtime. Also, there are some plot points that do not make sense, for instance, the lackadaisical attitude federal authorities show towards the lone survivor, showing no inclination to monitor him.
Minor flaws apart, ‘Weapons’ is an unconventional horror film, with its first three acts leaning into a cinematic ‘true-crime’ style, before jolting viewers with a violent, unhinged second half. The plot leans into some familiar genre tropes yet surprisingly steering clear of the usual jump scares and throat-shredding screams. Director Zach Cregger even slips in a hilarious tribute to the cult-classic The Shining, mirroring the iconic scene where Jack bursts his head through a door (check the movie poster if you’re a younger viewer with no clue what I’m talking about) with one of his own characters.
‘Weapons’ wraps up with a wacky, satisfying finale, giving its protagonists, and the audience, definitive closure. If you’re a horror fan, it’s well worth a watch.
Rating: 8 on 10.
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