Modern horror is in a strange but great place. It’s maybe the only genre where breakout stars and cultural phenomenons are happening on a pretty consistent basis. Breakout stars and cultural phenomenons are exciting things, good things for the movie business as a whole. In my opinion, when the breakout star of a movie is the filmmaker, whose name becomes synonymous with a certain style or expected quality, and can pretty much sell a movie just on their name, especially in the horror genre, then that is a heck of a lot more exciting than a breakout performer sprouting onto the scene. Looking back on recent horror history, and quite honestly, horror history going back to forever ago, for the most part, stars are not born on screen, but behind the camera. Zach Cregger, the writer/director of the newly released Weapons, is a prime example of someone who has become a star behind the camera…
Calling Cregger’s rise a ‘rags to riches’ tale is extremely rude, yet pretty on the nose. Before you tell me that dog don’t hunt, I’m just talking strictly as a writer/director, a horror filmmaker, Cregger went from pretty much a zero to a hundred in a span of two milliseconds. Barbarian (2022), Cregger’s breakthrough as a filmmaker, was a smash hit both critically and commercially. A project fully realized from Cregger, who hailed from the comedy world, specifically the sketch comedy world, with The Whitest Kids U’Know amongst other jobs as a performer. Barbarian felt so fresh and energetic, scary and funny, in a genre where mainstream hits, at the time, were so unbelievably serious (elevated horror) or so unbelievably unserious (self-aware horror). Of course, there were exceptions who occupy the gaping hole between those two spectrum’s like Jordan Peele, Adam Wingard and Mike Flanagan, among others, who are making seriously scary, original, and most importantly, fun mainstream horror movies that play well to big audiences.
Ari Aster and Robert Eggers are huge names, breakout stars making big hits that sell on their names primarily, like I had mentioned previously, but they operate in a lane that is so different from Cregger’s. Cregger’s lane is fun, energetic, terrifying, funny and intensely engaging. Fusing the comedic sensibilities with a real understanding of horror setup and payoff while also weaving social commentary into horror storytelling so effectively is a very rare skill, and so far has led to some really interesting and successful movies that play well to big audiences. Weapons, like Barbarian, is a shot in the arm to the horror genre, and I’m assuming will be a big critical and commercial hit. So, let’s get into it…
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But first, quickly have to dovetail back to put a bow on the ‘rags to riches’ comment. Ten years ago Cregger was starring in Wrecked the TV show on TBS. Look, I liked that show, kinda. It was on the air for a few years. Six years later Cregger is a massive critically and commercially acclaimed horror filmmaker after the release of Barbarian, a household name, with no previous horror credits to his name behind or in front of the camera. A year after that, Cregger’s next project (Weapons) is sold to New Line for $38 million, with a reported $10 million going to Cregger himself to write, direct and produce. TV money can be huge, so I’m not necessarily talking financially. Just in terms of public consciousness and Hollywood cache, it’s a pretty stark ascension in a short period of time. So yeah…
Weapons primarily stars Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, and Alden Ehrenreich as residents of a town where a classroom of 17 young children all of the sudden get out of their beds in the middle of the night, 2:17 AM to be exact, and disappear into the night. Garner’s character, Justine, was their teacher. Josh Brolin’s character, Archer, is the father of one of the missing kids. Alden Ehrenreich’s character, Paul, is a police officer in the town. Through their perspectives, the story devolves into a strange mystery that can only be uncovered by the unexpected. The initial twist is that there was only one kid in the class who did not go missing like the others, Alex, played by Cary Christopher. And while there are a few more characters whose perspectives we are privy to throughout the movie, it’d be best that I keep those under wraps for now.
From the horse’s mouth, Cregger has been adamant about the influence that Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia had on Weapons. The storytelling approach in Weapons is obviously very similar to Magnolia, regarding the changing perspectives and the overlapping timelines, but Weapons is a far more linear story than Magnolia is. Missing kids is a common trope, but Weapons flips that on its head in a sense where the truly insidious nature of Weapons comes from the unpredictability of everything happening outside of the investigation into the missing kids. The story takes place about a month or so after the incident, so the energy throughout is more so coping with the loss and figuring out what the hell happened and the awkwardness of how to move on rather than an investigation-centric approach to telling this story. With clues and interviews and whatnot. Weapons is wholly original in its approach, and had the audience on its heels throughout the screening I was at. I will say, some people anticipate and react obnoxiously loudly. I’m not a curmudgeon, I don’t think, but for the love of Christ, please shut the f–k up…
The big winner of Weapons for me, outside of the absolutely brilliant injection of consistent comedy throughout the movie, is the editing, done by Joe Murphy, who also edited Barbarian, with of course the oversight of Cregger. Editing, I’ll admit, usually never sticks out to me unless it’s an Edgar Wright, David Lynch or Quentin Tarantino movie. During Weapons, it stood out to me constantly. Each scare was perfectly crafted whether it be a slow build of tension with loud and abrupt payoff, patient and excruciatingly long scenes where the audience is more aware than the main characters leading to a tense moment of uncertainty (a sleepy scene in a car in particular) or just the visuals on screen that are unique to this movie specifically (clown faces, dream sequences, etc.).
Another big thing in editing is pacing. Weapons is a movie with a runtime of two hours and eight minutes. That’s very long for a horror movie. But, that two hours and eight minutes feels like one hour and twenty eight minutes because the pace is so brisk, the plot keeps moving, and the audience’s attention is being strangled at will. There was no point in Weapons where I felt the length of the movie, and to be honest, I felt as though it could have gone a little longer. I believe this isn’t just a testament to great storytelling, but also great editing, for keeping the momentum moving at all times. Weapons is a lean and mean two hour and eight minute machine…
With all that said, and even though I do find Weapons to be absolutely phenomenal, I can’t possibly not have a couple of small gripes. One being, the introductory, and I’m not spoiling anything by saying concluding narration done by a small child. I think I’ll be the only a-hole to say this, but I didn’t care for it. I get why it makes sense, and it’s such a small gripe, but it just stood out to me as an annoying choice in an otherwise endless onslaught of great choices. Something that is pretty common in horror is unbelievable first and second acts because the premise is so great but then weak third acts because it’s so hard to land a plane in a horror movie. Weapons’ third act is better than most, but also isn’t exactly gangbusters. Once the writing is on the wall, outside of a few funny moments, the final twenty or so minutes don’t play as well as the first two and a half acts of the movie. I thought the ending was decisive and entertaining, but also abrupt and inconclusive. My favorite filmmakers are the ones who can give a f–k about a conclusive ending that makes total sense, but in the case of Weapons, there are some things I wanted ironed out just a bit more…
Transitioning back to the good, I thought the performances were all a real standout. I feel like filmmakers who were previously/are currently also performers are the best at rounding up an interesting cast and getting the best out of them. There was some ‘actors strike’ related luck to the casting of this movie, where I won’t name specific names, but Weapons was extremely lucky to end up with Josh Brolin instead of Pedro Pascal for instance. Pascal is a fantastic performer, but the god’s honest truth is at this moment in mid-2025, he is far over-exposed. Over-exposed to the point where I feel like if this came out at the same time as the new Fantastic Four I truly believe it would hurt the performance of this movie.
Pascal has had three movies come out in the last two months, all tent-pole movies, and coming off The Last of Us on HBO this year to go with that. That’s a lot of Pedro Pascal. Josh Brolin isn’t exactly Daniel Day-Lewis in terms of lack of exposure, but for this role in particular, he brings that gruff energy that is needed to seem dangerous, but also elicit empathy for the situation that character is going through. There is a dream sequence with Brolin that is a high point in the movie. It is gripping and visually spectacular, with imaging that I haven’t really seen before. This sequence is scary as hell, emotional and ends with a laugh. It is a microcosm of how and why the movie as a whole succeeds at what it is trying to do…
The chemistry between all of the performers is also fantastic. Between Julia Garner and Benedict Wong (who plays the school principal), Ehrenreich and Austin Abrams, who plays a local junkie and even Brolin and Garner, they were all so funny and so believable as these characters. Also, funny in a way that didn’t take you out of the movie at any point, which can oftentimes be an issue in horror. Cary Christopher as Alex Lilly is a real standout here too, he is so innocent and not creepy, which works great. The same can be said for Julia Garner, who is always great. There are plenty of other one-off quick performances that are all very funny like Justin Long in a cameo and June Diane Raphael. Overall, the performances are top notch, and everyone clearly understands the assignment…
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Cregger’s feel for fusing the scares and the laughs is incredibly unique in the genre. Having that comedy background, much like Jordan Peele, seems to really help the comedic elements of these movies. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying here, this is a pure horror movie, I just found it so impressive how many quick laughs there are, and that those quick laughs never take you out of the horror atmosphere. I previously mentioned the pacing, and much of that can be attributed to the editing, but it’s obviously a huge testament to the writing as well because Weapons is consistently unpredictable and never takes its hands off of the audience’s throat. The menacing villain, once revealed, is introduced in such a clever way as well, and that whole villain performance is so strange and out there and overpowering. There’s so much going on in Weapons, and it was really cool to see it all tied together so slickly and intentionally, even though it has such a manic feel to it. From decisions like the way the kids run, to the storytelling structure and visual technique, you can definitely see how there was so much demand for Weapons when it was being sold, and it makes total sense that it would sell for such a large sum…
Overall, something that I love about Weapons is the lack of negative energy and depressing themes. To be frank, there is no bulls–t included that bogs the movie down like there so often is in so many modern horror movies where characters need to confront their traumas and whatnot. This is impressive, especially considering that the core mystery is what happened to these missing kids. The apolitical nature of Weapons is incredibly refreshing. The simplicity of making a movie that can scare people, make them laugh and engage them for two hours with fun characters, an original story, and flawless execution is an art that needs to be more prevalent in the industry, especially at the theatrical level. Weapons is a seriously fun time at the movies, and I can’t recommend it enough. Go out and see in a movie theater…
Wicked Horror Rating: 8.5/10
From New Line Cinema by way of Warner Bros. Weapons is playing exclusively in theaters as of August 8th, 2025.
