Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan
Certificate: 18
Run Time: 128 mins

Weapons is the new film by Zach Cregger, his follow-up to his excellent debut film Barbarian. Like Barbarian, Weapons is a high-concept horror-thriller that packs plenty of satisfying surprising its sleeve. The film opens with a child narrator explaining that one Wednesday, in the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen children from schoolteacher Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third-grade class ran away from their homes at 2:17am and disappeared. Only one student, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) did not disappear and Gandy is immediately ostracised by the community who suspect her of being involved. To say anymore would be to veer into spoiler territory, but what follows is presented in a non-linear narrative told by certain character’s perspectives. Cregger has said the film is inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia in structure, whereby there’s overlap between certain stories.

Weapons is a brilliant film and cements Zach Cregger as one of the most exciting up-and-coming talents. This is an assured, skilfully crafted film with some sensational set-pieces and clearly influenced by Magnolia and Prisoners in tone. amazing. Like Barbarian, Weapons hides some outrageous twists up its sleeve and is thematically rich, with lots of the symbolism and plot points up to interpretation. The way in which the film is split into chapters told by different character’s perspectives is an excellent way to tell the story, and it’s interesting to see how certain characters are likeable when portrayed from one perspective, but abhorrent from another.

It certainly helps that the cast are on the top of their game. Josh Brolin is brilliant as Archer Gaff, the father of one of the missing children, and really convincingly conveys his grief and his desperation to be reunited with his son. Julia Garner is also very strong as the meek teacher, and Alden Ehrenreich is particularly multi-layered as a corrupt police officer who’s Gandy’s ex-boyfriend. Austin Abrams is another highlight as James, a homeless drug addict and Benedict Wong excels as the school principal, deftly balancing comedic moments with berserk horror. And then there’s Amy Madigan as Alex’s eccentric great-aunt, for whom will surely experience a career revival after a slump.

The score is by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay and Zach Cregger is heart-stoppingly intense and it’s beautifully, and often disorientingly shot by Everything Everywhere All At Once cinematographer Larkin Seiple.

I was totally gripped from the moment Weapons opened to its finish with its enthralling story and pulse-raising setpieces. This is fiersomely original filmmaking and it’s expertly paced. Some might not like that the film has a reasonably neat explanation but I really brough the third act and found it particularly chilling and exciting. Weapons is a step-up from Barbarian (which was impressive in itself) for Zach Cregger and is one of the best films of the year.