Weapons (2025)

There are too many films that become a major sensation that I watch in hope that I get the thrill I used to get when it felt like every major blockbuster film was something new and exciting.  The problem is that unique experience of seeing something unexpected and knowing that one is getting in on the ground floor of a new popular culture sensation is now something that rarely happens.  Sequels and remakes have always been the cash cows of Hollywood, but it still seems that movies like Weapons were peppered in there more often in the past.  I may not have been on board from the beginning on this one, but I can definitely see why this caught the public's attention. 

One day every child except Alex (Cary Christopher) vanishes from a fifth-grade class taught by Justine Candy (Julia Garner).  For an unexplained reason they all leave their houses at 2:17 in the morning and not return.  While grieving parents try to figure out what happened Justine is blamed for the disappearances by the parents who think that she had something to do with kidnaping them.  Despite warnings from her principal Marcus (Benedict Wong) she tries to find out what is going on at Alex's home, sure that something isn't right with his parents. 

Meanwhile, a parent named Archer (Josh Brolin) begins his own investigation to try to find out where the children went and, though initially blaming Justine, starts working with her when she is attacked by a seemingly possessed Marcus at a gas station.  Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a police officer who is Justine's ex, also becomes involved when a junkie named James (Austin Abrams) claims to know where the children are.  The mystery may lie with a strange woman named Gladys (Amy Madigan), who claims to be Alex's aunt. 

Writer and director Zach Cregger unveils the story slowly through a series of segments that focus on each character.  While the story threads do come together in the end, at first it doesn't really give away if the movie is a supernatural mystery or a science fiction with horror elements.  It also doesn't dwell too much on the why, although we get to see the how, but Cregger is more interested in the consequences of what happens than in an in-depth explanation or deep dive into the lore.  From what I understand that was filmed and considered but ultimately removed as there had to be some mystery.  There are plenty of hints in the background to what is going on that it didn't all have to be spelled out for the audience.

Where the last part of the movie deals with specific repercussions of what happens and with wrapping up most of the questions the first two thirds are more focused on the emotional toll the disappearances exact on the town of Maybrook.  There probably could be a bit more focus on investigating the mystery, but it takes a backseat to having to endure such an event without closure.  Though never portrayed as being perfect - in fact, she's probably one of the worst teachers even - Justine is still shown as caring in her own way.  

Visually the movie is exciting and, as can be predicted with a solid cast that Cregger had to work with, the acting is superb as well.  If there is a problem it is that the underlying plot, once it unfolds, is pretty traditional.  There is a lot of imagination going into presenting the story but not a lot of it actually going into it.  Then again that could be said for many stories, in that they are all the same variations on the same stories we have been telling for millennia.  As for Weapons it has enough going for it that the more mediocre parts can be ignored and the movie can be enjoyed as a worthy entry into the current resurgence of more artistic horror. 

Weapons (2025)

Time: 128 minutes

Starring: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Cary Christopher, Amy Madigan

Director: Zach Cregger