“Weapons”(2025), the summer’s newest blockbuster horror film about a class of third graders who disappear mysteriously during the night, became an instant hit upon release, with good reason. Set with a rock star cast including Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams and Benedict Wong, Helmed by “Barbarian” director Zach Cregger, “Weapons” has all the right pieces to become one of the most memorable horror films of the year. And it almost sticks the landing — almost.
The film has a seemingly simple, yet alluring and eerie premise: One night, 17 children from the same third grade class all get up at exactly 2:17 a.m., leave their homes and disappear. Suspicion is immediately cast on Justine Gandy (played by the previously mentioned Garner), the children’s teacher, as well as Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), the only child not to vanish.
The concept reads like a creepy suburban fairytale, and the cinematography, music and plot reflect that. There is even a chilling child monologue over the first five minutes — told like a soothing bedtime story — as these kids run across the streets with their arms flung behind their backs. The rest of the film keeps up with the atmosphere, being distinctly grounded in suburbia with recognizable housing structures, school buildings, attitudes and police regiments to anyone who has lived in a similar area. It feels particularly real, something Cregger excels at.
As with 2022’s “Barbarian,” Cregger uses multiple shifting perspectives, ones that flow back and forth through time in the story. The perspectives in “Weapons” are particularly unique, each following a character in their own chapter, in a choppy style where a new chapter begins before the last one is finished. It makes the whole film feel like we are taking two steps forward, one step back. It is an interesting narrative technique, and one that I have never seen done before. It keeps viewers on their toes and allows us to slowly unravel the mystery as it goes on.
My issue with “Weapons” comes near its last arc. Once the mystery is fully revealed, and time flows linearly for the last chunk of the film, the clues do not particularly pay off. I found myself disappointed in what the mysteries had led to. Similarly disappointing, the villain, while excelling in the comedy department, is not that scary. The film is lacking overall in scares, with only a few scenes jumping out to me as truly fear inducing. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but after watching “Barbarian,” I was expecting to be on the edge of my seat far more often than I was.
The other part of “Weapons” that I found lacking was a clear theme. The film obviously has hints of a greater message: the whole premise of an entire class of children disappearing is reminiscent of a school shooting tragedy and grief is another point of connection with the parents who have lost their children, namely Archer Graff (Josh Brolin). However, neither of these themes is clear or prevalent enough to convey a message effectively. A horror film does not need to have a clear theme, of course, but after “Barbarian,” which has a very obvious message on the horrors of sexual violence, I was expecting a bit more.
“Weapons” does a lot of things well.
Cregger is excellent at bridging horror and humor, creating compelling and realistic characters, as well as crafting memorable and horrifying moments. However, something about “Weapons” does not stick with me. It is just missing that tiny little “bit” to make it an experience that will live in the back of my head for a long time, as the best horror movies often do. Still, it is a great film overall. My rating for “Weapons” is a tantalizing 7/10.
