Movie Review by Miguel Fermin
In a year of back-to-back blockbuster releases filling up cinemas, Weapons stands out as a hype-generator that is not typical. Even by horror movie standards, it still stands atypical, as the appeal of this film in its marketing is something that has been lost in most modern movies. No one knows what it’s about. The premise of the movie is clear enough: at 2:17 AM, every child from Ms. Gandy’s class (except for one) got up out of bed, ran out into the night, and never came back. That’s the setup, and that’s all anyone gets before entering the horror. The movie stays centered on this mystery all the way through. It doesn’t really have twists, but rather, it has twisted reveals. The film revels in its tight narrative, taking the audience steady by the hand through the town and its characters, then plunging them headfirst into shocking violence.
Simple, Scary Storytelling
Horror in film has evolved a great deal in the last decade. There was a remarked mainstream shift from frantic ghastly jumpscare galores to slow-burn skin-crawling nightmares. Director Zach Cregger joined this new wave of elevated horror movie making style and made a name for himself with Barbarian in 2022. The movie experience of Weapons is unique, but its storytelling undeniably shares stylistic signatures with Cregger’s previous foray in the genre. It’s difficult to discuss Weapons because much of what makes it special (just like Barbarian) is a clean viewing experience. The less known before watching, the better the movie is. It’s important then to establish the right expectations. Just as the trailers indicated, Weapons is not your usual run-of-the-mill horror movie, but maybe more so than people might think. It’s more akin to a mystery thriller with many horror elements. There are good scares, and it’s certainly terror-filled.
I distinctly recall the scene where the threat finally revealed itself. The entire audience was abuzz with hushed screams and even laughter.
Relatable, Solid Cast
The cast shines through, as the storytelling is literally built around exploring each of the main characters. Julia Garner takes the lead as the teacher Justine Gandy. The horror and intrigue of this movie would fail if she gave anything less than the stellar performance that she delivers. Ms. Gandy is a complicated character, and her POV is what launches everything. She’s messy and extremely flawed, but she’s also easy to root for and feel fear for. Much can be said for Josh Brolin as the other lead Archer Graff, who is a father spiraling in search of his son. The movie’s format and payoffs work because of the fantastic portrayals from the entire cast. The town feels alive, so the threat feels real. Cary Christopher as the remaining child Alex Lilly deserves the most praise. It’s not easy for a child performance to elicit strong emotions, especially considering the seriousness of the material as well as acting alongside a star-studded cast. In many ways, the film is a character study, intimately examining these people’s lives before torturing them in devilish ways.
There has been and there will be a lot of talk about the story, the characters, and the genre-blending. For me, the biggest star is the cinematography. The horror part of the experience, which is what people have been looking forward to the most, lives and breathes down the neck of the audience because of the precision and vision of the cinematography. I’m sat there with an audience that gasps when the camera pans, and I catch myself partially covering my eyes because the camera zooms in and out. The characters will just be walking or talking, but the framing and editing transforms these seemingly mundane scenes into off-putting short films within the overall movie. With the use of smart color-grading, it feels like every scene has this impending sense of doom, and at some point, that dread actualizes in sudden and stunning fashion. I distinctly recall the scene where the threat finally revealed itself. The entire audience was abuzz with hushed screams and even laughter. In hindsight, it was mostly one character walking around, but the camera movement made everything unsettling and freaky. It’s one thing to show upsetting and visceral visuals, which this movie does not shy away from at all, but it’s another, arguably more impressive thing to confuse the audience into both wanting to leave and stay in the scene.
Weapons is novel in its presentation, deceptive in what it chooses to focus on, and it provides a truly one-of-a-kind cinema experience. It boasts a (very) original screenplay, yet I still feel that it has the pacing, mood, and interest of a short novel. That feeling affirms that this movie should be watched with an open mind. Allow yourself to be surprised by the rollercoaster that this movie is. Allow yourself to be scared.
