Zach Cregger is really making a name for himself. The actor recently made a career turn into directing, and it’s panning out beautifully. Barbarian (2022) put Cregger on the map in terms of horror a few years ago; his latest film, Weapons, should likely launch him into the conversation as one of the better horror directors working today. An expertly crafted mixture of humor and terror, similar to Barbarian but with improvements across the board, Weapons just might be my favorite film of 2025, so far.
In the movie, a small town is reeling after 17 children mysteriously disappear overnight. The bizarre occurrence only gets weirder as the community realizes that all children were in the same school class taught by the same teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner, The Fantastic Four: First Steps). Many in the town believe Justine is responsible for all but one of the disappearances.
A month after the incident, no leads have been found, and no answers given. Justine still catches the ire of some townsfolk as she grapples with the situation. Angry and confused by the police’s lack of information, Justine sets out on her own investigation. She’s not the only one, as grieving parent Archer (Josh Brolin, Deadpool 2) is also fed up with the police and similarly starts a searching of his own. As the film progresses, several different characters join the effort, each with a story to tell.
The advertising and trailers for Weapons have been abundant; I’ve seen the film promoted nearly everywhere from social media to live events on TV. Thankfully, though, the trailers do not give too much away (which is far too common nowadays). Even so, I encourage folks to go into this film seeing as little ahead of time as possible. Thus, I will be continuing this trend by being intentionally vague on many points in this review and revealing as little plot details as possible.
What I can say, without a doubt, is that Weapons provided my favorite movie theatre experience of the year. The audience was eating up everything this film was putting out; every creepy scene and many surprisingly hilarious moments were very well received. The film had everyone on the edge of their seats and invested from the beginning.
The main selling point of Weapons is its mysterious premise. The plot is quite intriguing, and the mystery keeps the viewer engaged and constantly guessing. The story is fascinating to see unfold as more and more clues are revealed and more perspectives are brought to light, though there are a bit too many uses of exposition when more visual elements could be shown in the beginning.
Writer/director Cregger concocts a very unique presentation of the plot. His method is to share just one character’s perspective at a time and take us on a journey with that specific character up to a certain point, then switch to another. While similar approaches have been bothersome to me in the past, his method of connecting characters and their points of view is done masterfully and makes for a more rewarding payoff.
Weapons is very well-cast, and the actors bring their all. The characters are very well-written, with clear motivations and specific intricacies. The connections between them all further enthrall, especially as more details are revealed. Garner and Brolin turn in grounded performances and are joined by a stellar supporting cast.
I will say, as an avid horror fan, that Weapons is not quite as scary as it could be, given the premise. There is a genuinely creepy atmosphere throughout the film which builds suspense and leads to a few quality scares, but some horror elements are a bit underutilized. Still, there are plenty of disturbing moments and imagery to keep horror fans satisfied.
The aspect of Weapons that delivers the most, though, is the humor. I did not know going in that there would be much, if any, comedy. However, Cregger manages to seamlessly mix in many hilarious moments around suspenseful and unsettling scenes. I don’t recall laughing this much, even when watching an actual comedy, in a very long time. The quantity of absurdist humor is a pleasant surprise, even more so because it’s of high quality.
Though Weapons at times loses focus and homes in on admittedly unnecessary subplots, Cregger shows a real talent for keeping an audience engaged in every single aspect of his film. Some characters in Weapons are not quite crucial to the main storyline, but even when focusing a bit too much on these characters, Cregger delivers great entertainment value. Much like he did with Barbarian, but to an even greater extent, each character presented in Weapons has a worthwhile story to tell.
Weapons may not be exactly what I expected it to be, but it excels in far more areas than I could have imagined. With a winning combination of suspense, comedy, mystery, and absurdity, Weapons is a roller coaster ride in all the best ways. I can’t wait to see what Zach Cregger does next.
Matt Patti
Matt Patti has enjoyed voicing his opinions on films from a young age. He has lived in the Baltimore, Maryland, area since 2015 and is a graduate of Stevenson University’s Film & Moving Image program. Matt is currently back at Stevenson University, working as the School of Design, Arts, and Communication's Studio Manager.