Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"

After making waves in the genre with his 2022 horror debut Barbarian, many feared that director Zach Cregger might be a one-hit wonder. Fanatics of the frightful wondered whether Cregger would ever top the surprise success of his twisty Airbnb-from-hell monster movie. But I’m here to tell you, Barbarian was no fluke, as Cregger has one-upped himself with his latest movie, Weapons.

It may be down to the bigger budget, star power, and some of the best writing the genre has seen in some time, but Weapons is the best horror movie of the year. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast, including Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, and Amy Madigan, the movie takes place in a town where a classroom full of children mysteriously goes missing one night, leaving the whole community at a loss, questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.

However, don’t think you can guess what happens next. Weapons is a layered and multifaceted drama stuffed inside the skin of a horror movie that leaves you just as confused as the poor townsfolk of Maybrook, wondering what is going on for half the movie, and terrified for the rest.

Dark Delights

Kudos to Cregger for keeping Weapons’ many surprises under wraps. It’s a film that’s much better to go into blind, particularly when it comes to Weapons’ frightful villain. However, this sense of uncertainty lasts way into the movie too, as Cregger cleverly keeps the real root of the terror out of view well past the halfway point. Consider how shocked you were when you saw Nicholas Cage’s serial killer in Longlegs for the first time, and multiply that by 10. Not only does Weapons succeed in veiling its villain just long enough to let the tension build, when the movie's monster of sorts is revealed, the terror doesn't dissipate.

Speaking of the villain, Cregger has really gone back to basics with Weapons’ antagonist. At a time when many horror movies seem to be relying on shoddy CGI and over-the-top effects to bring monsters to life, Weapons’ creepy figure seems to have been pulled right out of a Brothers Grimm fairytale, or rather, nightmare. Mixing cautionary tales such as Pied Piper and Hansel and Gretel, Weapons preys upon our very human fear of the unknown and the uncanny with its utterly beguiling evil entity.

Weapons mimics a fairytale in more ways than one, not only in the root of the story, but how it creates the effect of a child hearing a scary story whilst staying up way too late at a sleepover. Watching Cregger’s twisted masterpiece made me feel as though I was a little girl again, terrified of the goggle-eyed witch in Disney’s Snow White. As a horror-loving 20-something-year-old, I didn't think any film would make me feel that way again; until now.

Many hands make light work

However, as brilliant as Weapons’ antagonist may be, they must share the spotlight. Weapons has no one main character; in fact, it has several. Splitting the movie into diary entry-like episodes focusing on each character, much like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the horror story is told from multiple perspectives, connecting the threads as the movie goes on. This only adds to the suspense and allows the viewer to piece together the mystery at the same rate as the Maybrook community does.

By including a fractured relationship between Garner’s deeply flawed elementary school teacher and Ehrenreich’s incapable cop, Brolin’s desperate father experiencing every parent's worst nightmare, Abrams’ troubled drug addict, and more, Weapons builds a whole world. There’s also some rather surprising cameos and a cheeky Barbairan Easter egg to keep you on your toes.

If there’s one gripe with the packed cast, it’s that sometimes it feels as though characters are fighting for screen time. Certain storylines, such as Garner and Ehrenreich’s entanglement, tend to drag on, while Brolin feels underutilised.

Overall, Cregger’s twisted fairytale is not only the best horror movie to come out of an already impressive year for the genre, but Weapons is a positively terrifying, heartwrenching look at a struggling community. Wth cleverly placed jump scares, the Barbarian follow-up will unsettle the most macho of horror buffs. All that’s left to ask is, what’s next for the Creggerverse?

Weapons releases in theaters on August 8 in the US and on August 7 in the UK. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way.