Coming from directing “Barbarian” in 2022 and producing “Companion” in 2024, director Zach Cregger took a new stab at the horror genre with a script that would make Netflix, New Line Cinema, TriStar Pictures and Universal Pictures participate in a bid war to own the screenplay. A known fact is that Jordan Peele, horror genre icon, was very interested in this script and him losing this led to him, allegedly, parting ways with Universal Pictures.
“Weapons,” released on Aug. 8, 2025, has become a complete hit in both critic’s response and box office, becoming one of the most popular horror films of the 2020s. It achieves this by delivering a memorable story of a small town in Pennsylvania having seventeen kids run away in the middle of the night and none of them showing up back in class the next day, apart from one kid, Alex. An incredible cast and a very interesting world improved this plot and helped achieve its success, with announcements of a prequel of our antagonist being in the making.
The main highlight and what easily stood out is how the film structures each of its acts, focusing on one character at a time and even re-telling scenes from their perspectives. The creation of such a large problem in a community would affect everyone differently, and these perspectives give us a good look at it. From the main accused individual of doing this, to a desperate father to find his kid, to a policeman working on this case, we slowly unravel the story and how everything happened, keeping the audience on its toes and wondering what the reason of the events might be.
Gladys, our main antagonist perfectly performed by Amy Madigan, is one of the most memorable characters in recent horror films and brings all the extravagance needed. Showcasing a red wig with extremely short bangs, smudged lipstick and distinct outfits, Gladys portrays an iconic look which is difficult to forget. Her personality and mannerisms change drastically depending on who she is talking to, and Madigan makes sure to execute it creepily and very passive-aggressively. Alex is also another spectacular performance distinguishing itself from many bad kids’ performances in horror films, especially considering the actor Cary Cristopher is only 9 years old.
As with many horror films, “Weapons” has an underlying meaning and expands on many social issues there is nowadays. It is widely stated that the film is about growing up with alcoholic parents, at least from the perspective of Alex. Director Cregger mentioned this, but debates are happening constantly about the general topics of the film and how it can be interpreted as ideas of weaponization of people, systemic failures in communities and schools and what grief can do to anyone are just some of the many of the topics discussed online.
Finally, Weapons has been one of the few movies of the genre that has resulted in me actually being scared. It has been a while since I physically pushed myself into the seat from trying to not look at the screen of fear, but the scene in the car with our protagonist Justine earlier in the film made me realize that Cregger knew what to do and that “Barbarian” was only his start into this genre. Creating an enthralling story that does not rely in cheap jump scares seems like an impossible task for many films now, especially when trying to combine with a decent story, but “Weapons” launches both of these greatly creating scream worthy moments still connected to the story.
“Weapons” is still available in some film theaters around the country, and I highly recommend it to anyone reading.
