“Weapons” is the second feature film from writer and director Zach Cregger, three years after his debut film, “Barbarian,” a film that sent shivers through the horror community with its raw depiction of the poor side of Detroit and the idea of masculinity, and how, even when you’re trying to do good, it can be toxic.
“Weapons” is a great movie, and if you’re really into horror, it gives you that and more. It’s a movie you want to watch without too many spoilers. The trailer provides the plot with a couple of spooky images and leaves the rest to the viewer’s imagination.
The plot goes as follows: one night, the main character’s students wake up in the middle of the night in their homes, walk downstairs, unlock the door, and run out into the night. This simple plot leads to many questions: What happened to the kids? Where did they go? Why did they all wake up at the same time and run away? It leaves the viewer wanting to know more. And it is crazier than anyone would think.
The story itself is structured in a way that I love by showing it in a non-linear fashion, by letting the story follow the main characters one by one until all the characters’ stories come together into a satisfying ending.
For example, the story begins with the setup I just discussed, and then switches to the first character, Justine, a third-grade teacher who has lost all of her students except for one. It follows her life after the incident. She is threatened by all the parents of the lost kids because they believe she was behind the disappearances. She buys alcohol to fuel her addiction she adopted after her kids disappeared, and she tries to talk to the only kid that didn’t disappear, Alex, who had been acting weird for a while.
After Justine, the story moves to Archer, a parent of a lost kid. Archer believes Justine was behind the students’ disappearance and caused damage to Justine’s car. The story unfolds through about four more characters, gradually providing the viewer with more information and weaving the narrative over a couple of days.
The only piece of media I can think of that is similar to this structure is “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio, which follows the life of Auggie Pullman, a kid with Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS), a condition that disfigured his face at birth. It chronicles his first year going to a public school. The story is narrated by Auggie, his friends, and his family. This is similar to the different points of view that the movie presents in each part, as they tie into one overarching story and ending.
As a thriller, “Weapons” uses the callback technique to great effect. For example, a witch invades Alex’s life and starts turning people into mindless drones to do her bidding. Before this was revealed, a TV gave a foreshadowing of this by a character who was about to be hypnotized by showing a documentary about Cordyceps infecting bugs. If you’ve seen “The Last of Us,” you know what these are, but if you haven’t, Cordyceps are a type of fungi that infects small bugs in the Amazon forest and turns them into zombies, forcing them to help spread to other colonies. This tells the viewer without them knowing what is happening to people and the kids.
Overall, I loved this movie so much and hope it gets the recognition that it deserves. It probably won’t because horror movies are considered a lower form of film and aren’t considered for most awards or even given the best reviews. I would give this movie a 9 out of 10 and would recommend it to anyone who can handle a jumpscare.
