This article contains discussions of addiction.
In the fall of 2000, "The Exorcist," which originally hit theaters in 1973, got a huge re-release titled "The Version You've Never Seen." Ads for the re-release of this beloved, unbelievably influential horror classic were inescapable, and I was about to turn 10 years old. The first time I saw a commercial with Linda Blair's Regan MacNeil spider-walking down the stairs of her family home, it scared me so badly that I had nightmares about it for a full
week.
I share this anecdote to make one thing perfectly clear: I don't do well with horror movies. At the same time, I respect them and even sort of revere them — name a huge horror release, and I've probably read the entire plot synopsis on Wikipedia dozens of times over to avoid getting the pants scared off me by watching the film in the first place. (Shoutout to "The Ring," a movie I'll never be able to watch and about which I know every plot beat secondhand.) When "Skinamarink" came out, I begged my braver friends to tell me everything, and while I love Jordan Peele's movies, I consider them to be high-octane thrillers rather than super-scary flicks. With all of that said, I'm here to tell you that, whether you're a brave soul or a total wimp when it comes to horror movies, you should run, Naruto-style, to see "Weapons" on the big screen.
Zach Cregger's latest directorial effort, which is his follow-up to his 2022 horror-comedy "Barbarian," is pretty spectacular on every imaginable level. Cregger's script is tight and funny, which isn't surprising when you consider his comedy background. (He was a founding member of the sketch group "Whitest Kids U Know"). Similarly, the performances from the film's central cast members — Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Austin Abrams, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, newcomer Cary Christopher, and the incomparable Amy Madigan — are astoundingly good. Whether you're a seasoned horror veteran or a silly scaredy-cat like me, "Weapons" is a must-watch ... and an incredible cinematic experience if you get the chance to see it in a crowded theater.
To better explain my meaning, however, we're going to be venturing into spoiler territory from here. Consider yourselves warned!
Read more: The 15 Best A24 Horror Movies, Ranked
Weapons Is Pretty Scary ... But The Way Zach Cregger Plays With Expectations Is Sublime
Put that can of soup back on the shelf if you haven't seen "Weapons" — full spoilers ahead!
There were, without question, several scenes throughout "Weapons" that I watched partially through my fingers, likely embarrassing the much-braver friend who came to see it with me. If you've read this far, I hope you've seen the movie, but as a reminder, we learn immediately that at 2:17 A.M. on a random night, 17 children ran out of their houses, arms akimbo, and remained missing for a month thereafter. Throughout "Magnolia"-esque chapters focusing on the film's main characters -- schoolteacher Justine (Julia Garner), grieving parent Archer (Josh Brolin), local cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), drug addict James (Austin Abrams), school principal Marcus (Benedict Wong), and young Alex (Cary Christopher) -- we learn what happened. It all centers around Alex, his parents, and a bizarre woman claiming to be either his aunt or great-aunt (depending on the moment), Gladys, a witch and the movie's main villain played by Amy Madigan. To put it bluntly and simply, Gladys is able to possess and control people and, in the process, seemingly steal their life force to stop herself from aging ... but with that said, she gives her age away at one point by claiming that Alex's parents have "consumption," which is a term people used for tuberculosis in the 1800s.
Gladys, her garish makeup, and her eerie powers are responsible for a lot of the film's biggest scares, including a horrifying jump scare where she appears on Justine's ceiling and another where she's visible in Archer's dreams, and I cannot deny that she's very, very scary. Still, by the end of the movie, Cregger — a skilled filmmaker and storyteller by any measure — makes her into an object of ridicule after Alex uses her same witchcraft to send the 17 missing children, who have been placed in his family home's basement to provide a young and fresh life force for Gladys, after the witch herself. Taking a character as frightening as Gladys from sinister to silly is an incredible pivot in the film's third and final act, and by the time the schoolchildren descend upon her and tear her apart, you're laughing — or, as people were in my theater, positively hooting and hollering.
There's catharsis in "Weapons," there are genuinely great jokes in "Weapons," and there are also jump scares in "Weapons" — but Cregger is too smart of a director to cheapen the movie's scares by making Gladys jump out of shadowy corners all the time. Beyond that, "Weapons" is actually a lot darker than you might realize on a first watch, because Cregger's intentions and messages come from places of real pain.
The Deeper Messages You Can Find Throughout Weapons Take The Film To Even Greater Heights
Without question, the most devastating chapter of "Weapons" centers around Alex, a young boy living happily with his parents until Gladys shows up. His parents are the first people to fall under Gladys' horrible trance, leaving Alex alone and forced to take care of them in any way he can; the shots of Alex feeding his catatonic parents Campbell's chicken noodle soup are genuinely gutting (to say nothing of the fact that we ultimately learn that he's doing the same thing for his 17 classmates hidden in the basement). The complete destruction of Alex's home life is so devastating that, when I saw "Weapons" in a crowded theater, you could practically hear a pin drop during his chapter ... and this storyline, as it turns out, was very personal for Zach Cregger.
Asked about some of his inspirations for the film, Cregger told The Hollywood Reporter that he grew up in a troubled home. As he revealed:
"The final chapter of this movie with Alex and the parents, that's autobiographical. I'm an alcoholic. I'm sober 10 years; my father died of cirrhosis. Living in a house with an alcoholic parent, the inversion of the family dynamic that happens. The idea that this foreign entity comes into your home, and it changes your parent, and you have to deal with this new behavioral pattern that you don't understand and don't have the equipment to deal with."
Even though Cregger went on to say that he doesn't want audiences to accept that as the only explanation for Alex's story, his interpretation of generational trauma here is striking, particularly when you consider the film's final moments. We learn that, though the lost children were returned to their parents, "some" of them started speaking again, making it quite clear that the events affected them for years to come. In that same interview, Cregger also said that while he was in post-production on "Barbarian," something happened: "My best friend died in an accident that was really hard to understand." Cregger went on to explain that the script helped him manage this loss: "[Writing] was just like an emotional reaction to that. I was spared, because of my emotional pain, of writing from a place of ambition. I was writing from a place of catharsis." Cregger's "Whitest Kids U Know" co-founder and longtime friend Trevor Moore passed away in 2021, and it's easy to connect the dots ... but it adds yet another layer of devastation to this incredible movie.
This is to say nothing of the school shooting references, Justine's personal trauma, and the multiple instances of addiction we see depicted in "Weapons." There's so much to unpack in this film, and that's why "Weapons" is a must-watch even if you see parts of it through your fingers.
"Weapons" is in theaters now.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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