WEAPONS

Zach Cregger made a real name for himself in the name of horror with Barbarian back in 2022, and now he's back with sophomore effort, Weapons. He seems to be a man hell bent on making audiences squirm as he puts your nerves to the ultimate test. If you thought Barbarian was bizarre though, just wait until you get a load of Weapons.

One night, 17 children—all but one child from Justine Gandy's (Julia Garner) classroom—simultaneously wake up and run off into the night. Justine and the rest of the community are left questioning who or what is behind the children's disappearance.

Cregger dumps us right into a mystery of such disturbing nature, with a voice over explaining what happened with the children disappearing. He then chooses to split the narrative into character chapters, focusing on each of the main players in play here and intertwining their stories quite devilishly - leaving the audience on tenterhooks as each chapter finishes right as it feels a substantial part of the mystery is about to be resolved. It really builds the anticipation for what exactly has been going on and it leads to an incredibly off the chain finale that has to be seen to be believed.

It's a moment that is both shocking and in line with the wicked humour that laces the film. Cregger is here to shred your nerves in the build up to this finale and is aided by some superb work elsewhere on the film. Larkin Seiple's cinematography uses inventive camera movements to help build so much suspense in certain sequences - catching me out several times throughout, while Cregger assists Ryan and Hays Holladay with a score that only adds to the obscurity of everything happening. Everything comes together superbly to create a sense of unease to reflect the feelings of these characters. You could argue that the film ends quite abruptly however, with the shocking nature of the finale, it feels rather effective.

Weapons is very much an ensemble piece with a cast firing on all cylinders to make it one of the wildest films of the year. Julia Garner brings so much steeliness to Gandy, her determination and paranoia mixing to create such a fascinating lead character. For such a diminutive figure, Garner always brings such a powerful presence to her characters and Gandy is no different. What a summer she's having with both this and The Fantastic Four under her belt. Elsewhere, you can really sense the desperation in Josh Brolin's performance, his Archer Graff being just about the only parent who seemingly cares about finding the missing children.

Then there's the more out-there performances that add an edge to the film; Alden Ehrenreich great as an alcoholic cop who just can't seem to do things right, Austin Abrams thoroughly entertaining as a homeless drug addict, and Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys - deeply unsettling and not just because of her fashion sense. It's tough to go too deep into each character due to spoilers but seeing Benedict Wong go down the route he does here was truly shocking.

While Barbarian lost me a little with its final act shift, Weapons builds to its conclusion superbly with Zach Cregger crafting an intertwining narrative that never feels at risk of getting tangled up. Great performances all round and a sense of dread emanating from the screen throughout make it one of the best horror films of the year.

Verdict: ★★★★½