Review of Weapons
Weapons (2025) Dir. Zach Cregger
Like many others the first time I heard of Weapons was from the public fallout of its bidding war which resulted in horror maestro Jordan Peele parting with his mangers. With such tensions brewing and the prior success of Cregger’s Barbarian, the narrative was set in place; Weapons was going to be a monumental entry into the horror canon of the 2020s.
And now that the day has come what’s the verdict? It’s incredible albeit difficult to praise too in depth without spoilers. Weapons wears its influences on it sleeves without ever feeling like a pale imitation but rather becomes a fresh thrilling couple of hours in a genre founded upon such anxiety. Citing Creeger’s own comments, Weapons can best be summarised as what if Magnolia was a fairy tale with a sprinkling of The Shining for good measure. As much as it pains me to not be able to divulge further in, I’ll vaguely remark that the film would make a perfect ironic double bill with a certain children’s horror film classic – those who have seen it will know exactly what I’m on about.
It feels fitting to first address the voiceover narration that bookend the film, immediately evoking the fairytale nature I mentioned. What I think is great about this narrative choice for audiences is that it gives audiences an immediate discomfort and overarching unease. Exposition is fleetingly brief as we are thrown into this sudden crisis with this Pennsylvanian town while immediately alerting us of an incoming dread; after all, all fairy tales must encounter some threat to overcome.
It’s Hitchcock’s classic suspense-bomb analogy; by framing the mystery within this context the horror can prey more on this growing paranoia over an unpredictable yet inevitable metaphorical explosion. The Magnolia influences at work in Cregger’s screenplay solidify this emphasis on suspense. Like how PTA used multiple perspectives to build towards a grand emotional catharsis, Cregger is able to use multiple perspectives to gradually drip-feed revelations that unveil the truth behind the central mystery. Each perspective recontextualises past questions and as the “bomb” becomes less abstract our sense of dread only thickens.
While so many weaker horror films would place emphasis on the shock of its scariest moments, Weapons is more concerned about the gaps in-between that allow its characters to be fleshed out, for the agony to linger rather than immediately dissipate, to allow the themes to influence the action and not the other way around.
Returning to Magnolia for a final time, the film similarly ties the epic approach with a palpably personal story. Following the unexpected death of Cregger’s comedic partner Trevor Moore, he said in interviews that he felt compelled to write the film and I think these overarching themes of grief and delirium strengthen the ensemble narrative and vice versa.
While like PTA, I can imagine Creeger getting criticised as being “too self-aggrandising” and so forth I think that in the case of Weapons this structure allows the film to pursue its subject matter to otherwise unfathomable heights. These themes I briefly mentioned manifest differently in everyone and broad tragic events are never just a single person’s story. Multiple narratives serve to elevate the suspense but also the complexity of such an issue when people are going to clash either indefinitely or until as satisfying a conclusion as possible can be reached.
The entire cast are perfectly balanced – no main performance distracts from another and instead exist in harmony allowing the necessary angles of each character to be highlighted. Further elements of film form like cinematography and sound are also impeccably balanced. They both consistently elevate the eeriness without becoming excessive while similarly the mise-en-scene does an incredible job at putting the audience into a position of weakness. Some of the most effective shots in the film can be locked off ones that render us incapable of escape.
While the ambition and expectations may not work for everyone, I think with enough time Weapons is going to be fondly remembered as a classic horror epic. The film goes beyond the typical modern horror movie with a greater substance that never comes at the detriment of strong scares.
With the news of Cregger working on a new Resident Evil film already promising new opportunities for one of horror’s current biggest names, I hope Weapons is successful enough to prove original ideas within its budget can keep a home on the silver screen. It’s been a good while since a horror left me on the edge of my seat like this, a sentiment I’m certain will be shared.
★★★★½
4.5 / 5
Will Knowles
X @WillKWriter
