Weapons cements itself as a masterfully crafted horror film with a chilling mystery and unforgettable ending
Massive spoilers ahead, be warned. Word of advice: go into this movie knowing as little as possible.
There’s something wicked in the air because horror movies have been on an absolute, ahem, tear in 2025. From Sinners and 28 Years Later to Together and now Weapons, horror fans are eating exceedingly well as of late.
Yet somehow Weapons manages to stand out above the rest because it may well be the most impressively crafted movie we’ll see in 2025. It’s certainly the most stress-inducing (in a positive way).
The premise is simple but immediately attention-grabbing: One night, at 2:17 am, 17 children from the same third-grade class just got up out of their beds and ran out of their houses arms outstretched simply disappeared into the aether.
Why on earth did they do that? What triggered them? Was it a supernatural power of some sort?
Things quickly take a turn for the “ohh you’re doing that” because Weapons is heavily influenced by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia in structure, theme, and scope. Rather than unfold events chronologically, director and writer Zack Cregger divides his 128-minute story into character-driven chapters where perspectives are layered upon one another until the whole web surrounding this mystery box becomes expertly woven together.
After witnessing events through the POV of Justine Gandy (the great Julia Garner), the teacher of the aforementioned third-grade class ,being accused of kidnapping the children or having some part in it, we shift to the POV of Archer Graff (Josh Brolin, always great), the father of one of the missing children. The full picture is gradually formed through the subsequent arcs of a local cop named Paul (Alden Ehrenreich, rocking a great ‘stache), a junkie named James (Austin Abrams), the school principal and Justine’s boss named Marcus (Benedict Wong, wish we got more of him), and perhaps most importantly, the sole remaining child from the aforementioned third-grade class who didn’t Naruto-run his way into nothingness, Alex (Cary Christopher, MVP #1 of the movie).
I’m sure going from point A to point B would’ve worked, but where’s the fun in that? Weapons immaculate Pulp Fiction-esque non-linear narrative is easy to follow and keeps us on edge the whole time because information is continually recontextualised and answers are slowly revealed to us while all the characters and themes are slowly deepened.
There’s a prevailing sense of hopelessness and unexplained senselessness looming over Weapons. Most of the themes Cregger explores are just grim, and this is reflected by a sense of helplessness and failure from all the characters to understand what is going on. Answers to difficult situations are never as forthcoming as what we would like and every character is discovering that the hard way.
The character-centric chapter structure also means Cregger gets to have his cake and eat it as well in terms of how deeply we, the audience, wants to read Weapons. Justine’s chapter is an allegory about school shootings and the utter devastation these wreak upon families and local communities; Archer and Alex’s chapter is an autobiographical depiction of Cregger’s life and childhood (he’s talked about this in various interviews); and Marcus’ chapter is just batshit crazy horror movie stuff that spikes heart rates.
The key to Weapons working on all these fronts hinges on two crucial elements: Cregger having no qualms giving us the answers to almost all the big questions (eventually), and the reveal of Alex’s great-aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan, MVP #2 of the movie) being the harbinger of evil behind everything that’s happened.
I get that pinning all the bad stuff onto one person is perhaps straining credulity a bit, but this is a horror movie so answers are always welcome, personifying the world’s (well, mostly ‘Murica’s) evils into a creepy aunt figure is easier to latch onto, and Madigan sells the hell out of it with one of 2025’s best performances. Aunt Gladys is menacing, charismatic, and downright creepy in equal measure, and she can flip any of those switches whenever she wants. Massive props to the make-up department because Aunt Gladys is also just scary to look at for extended stretches of time.
All the seemingly stray narrative strands are pulled together into a masterpiece of a third act as Alex manages to turn the tables on Aunt Gladys by figuring out her magic tricks. As the missing 17 children chase her down like a pack of rabid dogs before tearing her apart in Cannibal Holocaust-esque fashion, that breath you’ve been holding for nearly two hours is finally exhaled. Relief, oh sweet and savoury relief.
As a thematic wrap-up, Gladys’ defeat feels like the victorious catharsis we don’t get in real life and Cregger can at least give us that bit of bittersweet hope that’s often lacking. As a pure popcorn movie wrap-up, well, how could you not enjoy someone as evil as Gladys getting her comeuppance in gory fashion?
One could argue that Weapons is a fantasy movie in elevated horror dressings in which good triumphs over evil. One could also argue it is a deep dive into the serious flaws and anger bubbling under ‘Murica in 2025. And one could also argue it’s just a brilliant horror movie with a fantastic ending that pays off its bonkers set-up. Everything is valid, and that’s ultimately Weapons’ greatest magic trick.