Weapons

Summary

“Last night at 2:17 AM, every child from Mrs. Tandy’s class woke up, got out of bed, went downstairs, opened the front door, walked into the dark… and they never came back.”

Earlier this year I purchased a digital copy of Zach Cregger’s 2022 horror film Barbarian. I had heard a lot of buzz about the film, but I had held off on checking it out with hopes that a physical release would manifest. That was not the case, so I finally took the plunge. It was one of my favorite discoveries for my first half of the year. Barbarian made me excited to see Zach Cregger’s next horror-thriller Weapons, which luckily was just a few months away. Weapons was a hotly pursued project by a number of studios based on the originality of the script and the recent buzz achieved for Barbarian. Jordan Peele reportedly fired his management team at Artists First when he failed to acquire the script for his production company. That is a pretty strong endorsement for the script. Warner released the film in theaters and it was a very strong success for the studio doing $287 million at the box office against a $38 million budget. It was a true sleeper hit that became a blockbuster based on great reviews by critics and strong word of mouth. 

The plot of Weapons is nonlinear and broken down into six sections named after different central characters. The central plot of the film is broken down by a child narrator in the opening moments of the film. In Maybrook, Pennsylvania, town residents wake up to find that in the middle of the night, all at the exact same time, seventeen children walked out of their homes and into the night. All seventeen children were members of a fifth-grade classroom taught by Justine Gandy (Julia Garner.) Only one child from the class showed up to school the day of the event, Alex Lily (Cary Christopher.) The town deals with the tragic disappearance in different ways as they grieve. Many suspect Justine of some wrongdoing, including Archer Graff (Josh Brolin) whose son was one of the children gone missing. Justine meanwhile is curious about why Alex was not impacted. The principal of the school, Marcus (Benedict Wong) also navigates the fallout of the tragedy. Other characters that become important to the plot include a policeman with a drinking problem named Paul (Alden Ehrenreich,) a junkie (Austin Abrams,) and Alex’s aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan.)

I first became aware of Zach Cregger through the cult sketch comedy show The Whitest Kids You Know which aired on the IFC channel when I was in college. I was a fan of the series because it felt like it was essentially written by my peers. It was a scruffy show that probably would have more difficulty finding an audience now due to its non-PC and intentionally offensive nature. Another performer on that show was Trevor Moore, who was Zach’s best friend. A few years ago, Trevor died in a freak accident. Zach wrote Weapons as a way of dealing with the intense grief he felt for the loss of his best friend. The imprints of that tragedy can be felt when watching the film. Weapons is as emotionally complex and satisfying of a horror film as I have seen in a while. The script for the picture does several things at once and does all of them intelligently. At the core of the script is the key mystery: why did seventeen children all leave their home at once without a trace? That mystery propels the story, but the script has a lot of tricks up its sleeves. Cregger drew influence from Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmography, borrowing a narrative device from Magnolia along with some other character elements from that film. This helped the picture achieve an artistic quality that I admired. When the film reaches its final third and the mystery unfolds, the film in some ways could probably be considered a modern folk horror. As for the scares, the film is actually more of a mystery, drama, and thriller that has a few scares in it than a pure horror picture. That said, there is a very effective jump scare in one scene in the film that made me jump harder than any jump scare this year. You will know it when you see it.

The direction by Zach Cregger is taut and effective. Cinematography is well thought out. The palette of the cinematography matches the cold and lonely landscape the characters are navigating. The film is shot capably and the actors are all up to the task of delivering strong performances.

Josh Brolin consistently elevates the films he appears in. Brolin, despite growing up the son of a very famous actor (who also is famously involved with Barbara Streisand,) has an everyman quality he brings to his roles that feels lived in and real. His character is understandably destroyed by the grief that is eating him alive, and Brolin plays the grief and anger of the character perfectly. Brolin is just fantastic in the film. Julia Garner first showed me her abilities in the Netflix show Ozark. In the role of Justine she shows a more reserved and vulnerable side. She has some real chops. It would be hard to root against her in this role. Alden Ehrenreich is an actor that I really enjoy onscreen. In the role that Zach Cregger wrote that is most similar to a character in Magnolia (the character borrows a number of elements from the role played by John C. Reilly in that film,) Ehrenreich is completely charming. I hope that Ehrenreich continues to pull great roles like this one, or his recent turn in Cocaine Bear. Benedict Wong is very good in the role of the beleauguered school principal. Cary Christopher, the young kid who plays Alex, is very good. It is one of the best young adult performances I have seen in awhile. Unrecognizable in the film, Amy Madigan is completely unforgettable as Aunt Gladys. Overall, the ensemble cast is very well put together.

On top of his screenwriting and directing duties, Zach Cregger also helped compose the score for the picture. I was very impressed by the songs chosen for the film. George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness” is a great pull off of his seminal All Things Must Pass album. “Gotta Get Up” from Harry Nilsson, “Dark End of the Street” by Percy Sledge, a song from Tammy Wynette, and a deep cut from MGMT round out the score. The movie has a solid groove to it that I enjoyed. I found myself listening to certain songs in my car in the days after viewing the film.

Overall – Weapons is one of the most original and enjoyable films of the year. I am happy that the film found an audience and became a box office success, because films like this are a great reminder that studio films can be artistic, exciting, original, and embraced by the public. Definitely check this one out!

Video

Warner Bros. presents Weapons on 4K UHD with both HDR and Dolby Vision. Cinematographer Larkin Seiple shot the film on ARRIRAW 4.6K digital film on Arri Alexa 35, Canon K35, and Zeiss lenses. The picture uses blues and shadows effectively, evoking a grief stricken reality. Fine detail is very good. The HDR and Dolby Vision bring the finest out of the 4K elements. Fans of the picture will be very happy with the way the 4K looks, replicating the theatrical experience.

Audio

Weapons features a fantastic Dolby Atmos surround track that uses every part of the Atmos directionality to its benefit. The music by Zach Cregger, Ryan Holladay, and Hays Holladay does well for the picture, along with the great songs chosen. The sound design is robust and effective, and the Atmos track shows off. I have no notes on anything that needed to be improved. Very solid.

Supplements:

• Director Zach Cregger: Making Horror Personal
• Weaponized: The Cast of Weapons
• Weapons: Texture of Terror 

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 5/5

Supplements – 2.5/5

Overall – 4.75/5

Weapons is one of the most original and enjoyable films of the year. The picture is a well written mystery and drama that has some strong horror elements. Zach Cregger had earned acclaim for his horror picture Barbarian a few years ago, and Weapons proves that he has a lot more to say. Written as a way of working through his grief after losing his close friend and collaborator Trevor Moore, Weapons is surprisingly deep. The conclusion of the film is extremely satisfying and solves the mystery that drives the film. Cregger used a non-linear approach to telling the film’s story that borrowed elements from Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia to great effect. Overall, I loved Weapons, and will happily be revisiting this film again in the future. The Warner Bros. 4K UHD presentation is very solid and features a great Atmos track. The supplements are enjoyable and, while somewhat short, say a lot about the process for how the film came together. Critics and audiences have agreed on this one for good reason. Definitely check this one out!