Weapons is one of the few recent horror films that contains some semblance of creativity from writer and director, Zach Cregger. The cast includes Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.
This film takes a somewhat non-linear path in its laying out of the story as it shifts perspectives among the characters. Very early one morning, seventeen children suddenly flee from their homes into the darkness running in a most unusual manner. They are classmates in a particular elementary school, and only one child named Alex is accounted for. The teacher, Justine Gandy, is suspected to be somehow behind the mysterious disappearances. An aggrieved father, played by Brolin, is the main accuser. Alex’s aunt, Gladys, has also been visiting and turns out to be a practitioner of witchcraft. Justine has to endure a particularly savage attack as she and Alex’s father come together to discover the truth behind the frightening and supernatural intrusion into their community.
First of all, Brolin remains as compelling as ever as Archer, the grieving and angry father of one of the missing children. Garner and the rest of the cast are also well selected for their roles. Amy Madigan as Gladys does well with making such an outlandish presence creepy and menacing as well.
There were also some pretty sly moments of dark humor that I found to be cleverly planted throughout the script.
There is quite a bit of brutality in this movie that makes it a little hard to watch. I am not normally a squeamish movie-watcher, but some of the scenes tested by nerve a bit.
Some of the characters feel a little cliche at times, but the strong performances help me find some forgiveness there.
It’s an effectively disturbing film, as it was intended. Although I doubt it will achieve any sort of iconic cinematic status, this film is one of a rare breed in today’s cinema in that it was actually pretty compelling.
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