WEAPONS Review

There’s a strange phenomenon that happens every time a major studio horror film hits theaters: the hype snowballs. Social media campaigns, cryptic trailers, glowing early buzz—it all builds to a fever pitch until opening weekend arrives like a pressure valve bursting. Weapons, the sophomore effort from Barbarian director Zach Cregger, is no exception. The marketing push was relentless, the mystery intriguing, and the chatter impossible to avoid. The question, as always: does it live up to the hype?

A Premise Worthy of Obsession

I’ll keep this spoiler-free, because frankly, Weapons is best experienced with as little information as possible. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d even suggest skipping all reviews—mine included—until you’ve been through the ride yourself.

Here’s the setup you’ll get from the official synopsis and trailers: When all but one child from the same school class vanish on the same night—at the exact same time—a small community is thrown into shock and suspicion. Who, or what, is behind the disappearances?

The cast is a mix of familiar names and surprise turns: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, and, for me, the unexpected MVP—Amy Madigan. Seeing Madigan, a personal favorite since Uncle Buck, in a role so wildly different from her earlier work was a treat.

Cregger’s Puzzle-Box Storytelling

Much like Barbarian, Cregger proves he’s a director who thrives on post-movie conversation. You don’t watch his films and head straight to bed. You go home wired, replaying moments, dissecting clues, and asking a friend, “Okay, but what do you think that meant?”

The brilliance here is in the film’s structure. Weapons is essentially a mystery told in shifting chapters, each from a different character’s perspective. We begin with Julia Garner’s schoolteacher, who, being the one adult with daily access to all the missing children, is under intense scrutiny. The narrative builds around her until—cut. Suddenly, we’re with Josh Brolin’s character, seeing overlapping events from a completely different angle. Then Alden Ehrenreich. And so on.

It’s a layered approach, like a puzzle slowly revealing itself. Each character holds a key piece of evidence, but no one has the full picture. As the chapters progress, the audience becomes the detective, gathering these fragments and assembling them into something resembling an answer.

The payoff is satisfying—not because Cregger spoon-feeds you exposition, but because the story trusts you to connect the dots.

Performances That Stick

Garner continues to be one of the most magnetic screen presences working today, giving her role both intensity and vulnerability. Brolin brings weight and gravitas, though knowing Pedro Pascal was once attached is an intriguing “what if.” Ehrenreich fits neatly into the ensemble, but it’s Amy Madigan who steals the show. Her character could have easily slipped into caricature, yet she finds a humanity in the quieter moments that makes her impossible to look away from.

The Horror Arrives Late, But Hits Hard

While Weapons leans more toward mystery for much of its runtime, the horror creeps in during the final act. When it does, it’s effective: practical gore, a few earned jump scares, and an unnerving use of light (and the lack of it). Cregger knows how to make you uneasy with what you can’t see, letting sound design and negative space work on your imagination.

The One Sticking Point

And now, the gripe. It’s minor in the grand scheme, but significant enough to color my overall feeling: the ending. Or rather, the abruptness of it. After such an intricate buildup, the final moments cut to black almost mid-thought, framed by a piece of narration that feels unnecessary—telling us what we can already see.

It’s not that the ending ruins the film. It doesn’t. But it leaves several key questions unanswered, which is odd given how carefully the story doles out clues. It’s the kind of ending that will either frustrate you or send you spiraling into theories. For me, it was a little of both.

Final Thoughts & Score

Even with my reservations about the conclusion, Weapons is a confident, meticulously crafted follow-up for Cregger. In fact, I’d say it’s a better film than Barbarian from a technical standpoint—the storytelling sharper, the performances richer, the overall vision more assured. Like Ari Aster with Midsommar after Hereditary, you can see a filmmaker honing his style, sanding the rough edges while keeping the bold choices intact.

🍿 SCORE = 75 / 100

*Watch my YouTube review HERE.