Weapons

In 2022, director Zach Cregger, who was best known for being a cofounder of The Whitest Kids U Know, created a masterful horror film titled Barbarian. Everything about this film from how it was marketed to the way it slowly revealed its cards to its mix of humor and dread came together so perfectly. I've watched Barbarian 4 or 5 times at this point and even though I know all the twists, I still love it.

So, the question is, can lightning strike twice? After seeing Cregger's latest film, Weapons, I gotta say...yes. This dude knows how to direct a horror film. And even though I like Barbarian more on the whole, Weapons is a tense, disturbing, and very funny nightmare of a movie.

As with Barbarian, the marketing of Weapons only allows us a peek at the first part of the movie. It opens with a child narrator explaining that two years ago a class of 17 third graders all left their homes at 2:17am and "never came back". Only one child in the class, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), comes into school the next morning. Of course, suspicion falls on the teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), who is as baffled and horrified as anyone else.

Weapons takes place in chapters that each focus on one character's point of view. It starts with Justine's story, then Archer Graff's (Josh Brolin), a grieving and angry father who wants answers. We also see the perspective of the school principal, Marcus (Benedict Wong), a cop named Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a homeless addict named James (Austin Abrams), and finally Alex Lilly himself. 

Each chapter builds on the previous one, answering questions that came up earlier and showing different angles of the mystery. But in the latter half of the film, Weapons shows us what exactly is going on. I'll get into spoilers below after a warning. 

For those who don't want to be spoiled, I'll just say that I was on the edge of my seat for most of the film, but especially the second half. I also laughed a lot. Cregger is really good at getting that balance of terror and levity. If anything, he leans perhaps a little too much into the levity, giving Weapons the feel of being a horror comedy at times. But despite the humor, there is a horrific and sad story at the center of Weapons. The film is absolutely worth watching--especially in a theatre filled with people--and is one of my favorites of the year so far.

Grade: A-

***

SPOILERS!!!!!

Throughout the film we see glimpses of a red-haired woman. Eventually, we find out that this is Alex's Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan, in a wonderful performance). The tl;dr is that Gladys is a witch. She is old and sick and invited by Alex's parents to stay with them (even though they don't really like her) and she immediately begins using a holly tree and personal items to create binding spells, allowing her total control over Alex's parents. With her spells, she can take control of and weaponize (ah!) people--causing them to come to her, as she does with the children, or to hurt themselves or hurt others. 

It's never fully explained why Gladys needs to do this, other than vague allusions to the fact that she's old and sick and using her powers seems to make her more healthy and energetic. I'm sure there are breakdowns of the movie that explain exactly how Gladys uses black magic (and I plan to read some), but I'm guessing that by controlling people's souls and bodies, she takes some of their energy. Perhaps children's souls are especially potent, which is why she compels Alex to bring her an item from every one of his classmates, allowing her to call to the children and get them to come running to Alex's house that fateful night.

The film reaches its climax when Justine and Archer enter Alex's home, only to be attacked by Paul and James, who have been "bound" by Gladys's magic. Meanwhile, Alex steps over a protective line of salt and is attacked by his own parents. Alex manages to grab a strand of hair from Gladys's wig and quickly do the binding spell himself, which turns all 17 children on Gladys. They chase her down and rip her apart, breaking the binding spells for all involved. However, it's not a very happy ending. The narrator explains that Alex's parents never recovered and they are basically comatose in an assisted living home somewhere. The children are reunited with their parents and, as the final line of the film states, "some have even started talking again".

Weapons is a good, old-fashioned fairy tale about a witch preying on children. It's also a commentary on paranoia and hysteria, especially when children are involved. The parents initially (and understandably) demand answers from Justine. They assume that she, being the teacher of the class that went missing, had something to do with it. The hound her and harass her, especially Archer (whom it is revealed never managed to say "I love you" to his kid). But it's also about addiction. Cregger has said in interviews that he grew up in an alcoholic home and had to take care of himself and his parents, as we see Alex do in the movie. "I lived that chapter as a kid", he says. There are also multiple addicts in the movie: James, the meth addict who steals and pawns items to get quick cash; Paul is in recovery and relapses during a night with his ex, Justine; and Justine herself enjoys a nice, tall glass of vodka even when she should be sober and alert. 

In summary, there's a lot going on in Weapons and I look forward to rewatching it and catching more details I missed the first time. I also look forward to seeing what horrors Cregger has in store for us next time.

Grade: B+