Weapons (2025)
Director(s): Zach Cregger
Writer(s): Zach Cregger
Starring: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Amy Madigan
2025 was a SOLID year for horror flicks. With bangers such as Sinners, Black Phone 2, Good Boy, etc. (some I’ve written about, some, I shall), it would be difficult to claw your way in being one of the best movies of the year, yet, director Zach Cregger was able to deliver a flick that was so clever in its delivery and even managed to create an iconic character that has weaved their way into the fabric of horror culture (we’ll be seeing LOTS of cosplays soon I imagine).
Weapons is from director Zach Cregger and like his previous film, Barbarian, what makes his style of movie making uniquely exciting is that he gives you what I like to call a sub-genre twist; It’s not enough that he pulls the rug under you from a plot standpoint, but rather he gives you a whole other kind of movie within the same genre but different expectations within that genre (let that sink in). By the time you realize you’re watching a different kind of movie, you’re already invested in the plot and since the writing is so solid, the transition never seems quick, nor forced, it’s very natural and a part of you thinks that you what you saw in the trailer vs what you’re currently watching is something that you maybe should have figured out at an earlier point in time. Part of the genius marketing of this movie is keeping the audience honest in making sure that they don’t tell anyone about the plot; that sort of mystery where the trailer tells the everyone who’s seen the flick to “not spoil it for everyone else” but instead of spoiling a particular part or the ending of a movie, for Weapons, it’s more like they are pleading with folks to not spoil what kind of movie you’re watching in general!
At this point, I’ll assume everyone has watched the trailer, or even a parody of the trailer because that’s how impactful this flick since last year, so I won’t be spoiling anything crazy here; a classroom full of children get up from their respective beds one night, all at the same time and run out of their homes, Naruto-style (that funny run where their arms are behind them as they gallop about) and disappeared. The town itself of course goes into a frenzy and blames the teacher, played brilliantly by Julia Garner as the parents get more enraged (one of them being Brolin) to find the truth. From the trailer alone, it just screams the paranormal; you’re thinking ghosts, demons, Satan himself, some sort of pale creature from the forest that escaped from hell collecting children but yeah, here’s the only spoiler you’re getting, IT AINT THAT. As I’ve already stated, that beauty of Cregger is that you don’t trust his trailers, as cool as it would have been to have Satan as a pied piper sort of character gathering children, which would have been a fine film on its own, very creepy and sure, would have had PLENTY of nice little jump scare moments, Cregger is always searching for another horror sub-genre that he can use to marry the main story together and make it make sense in such a satisfying way.
Alright, can we finally talk about my girl, Aunt Gladys? GOOD GAWD what an icon. I will keep this short and sweet because we really are going to be flirting with spoiler territory here if I start swooning over how much I love this character so I’ll just say that besides the great storytelling, what this movie managed to also do is create a character that will stick in people’s heads to the point where it becomes synonymous with the movie itself, not unlike what Jason Voorhees is to the Friday the 13th flicks or Freddy Krueger to Nightmare on Elm Street, two of the most LEGENDARY examples, I know, but you catch my drift. As with the other icons I mentioned, performance is key so much of the kudos goes to Amy Madigan who gave Aunt Gladys the creepy nuances that brought her character to terrifying life.
Part of the reason I was glad we were able to do a back-to-back spotlight on Zach Cregger (i.e., subsequent articles for both Barbarian and Weapons) was that the idea of horror sub-genre misdirection is the kind of ingenuity that makes me so joyous to be a movie fan, specifically, a horror movie fan in this case. I’ve appreciated so many kinds of horror flicks my entire movie-watching career so far and to see someone set the table of the rules and then pull the cloth underneath to reveal a whole new table set for you to enjoy is just a treat for someone like me who understands what each sub-genre of horror could or should entail. Thank you Cregger and thank you HORROR!
Life is FAR more interesting when we take interest in things that scare us.