Weapons, the second thriller/horror film from Zack Cregger (Barbarian), tells the story of a mid-size, Northeastern town where 17 third-graders, all from the same class, compulsively run away from their homes one early morning, at 2:17 am. One student in the class, Alex (Cary Christopher), is left behind, as is the teacher, Justine (Julia Garner).
Buy Weapons 4K UHDJustine, depressed, reacquaints herself with her alcoholism. She has also been following Alex, feeling a strong desire to speak with the one child who is not missing. Seeing Alex enter his home, Justine knocks on the door to no avail, but notices that all the downstairs windows are covered with newspaper. Looking through a random hole in the paper, she sees Alex’s parents sitting in the dark, on the couch, as still as statues. This creepy moment is the height of the suspense Cregger is able to muster from his wilted story. Most of the rest of the scares take place in dreams that we know are dreams, and that simply cannot pack the punch of the feeling we might call “real life” in movies.
Unfortunately, the movie continues to struggle to find its footing after such a strong premise. For instance, simply for the sake of story, the town has some serious policing and detecting issues. We discover that all the nametags from the children’s class cubbies have mysteriously disappeared. In any other world, this would be called a clue, but not in the world of Weapons. Second, some of the children were videotaped leaving their homes at 2:17 am, having been captured on doorbell cameras. This is also usually called a clue, but nobody thinks to do anything with the information (like, say, triangulate where the children’s trajectories lead to – the police never come up with this idea; it takes a parent, apparently, to get anything done). Last, that newspaper over the windows is a strong indicator the police never searched the home of the only boy who isn’t missing. They never searched Justine’s house either. It simply makes no sense.
We are also meant to believe that the story of the missing children did not make national news, never even made it out of the town, in fact. Through an opening monologue by Alex, we are told that the town leaders were able to keep the entire affair under wraps. Seventeen eight-year-olds disappeared in the middle of the night but not one parent called their cousin in New Jersey who works for The Star-Ledger? It is more than just a little bit hard to chew.
Bonus Features:
- Director Zach Cregger: Making Horror Personal
- Weaponized: The Cast of Weapons
- Weapons: Texture of Terror
Weapons also has plenty going for it, too. The acting, across the board, is top notch. Cregger knows how to frame an interesting scene. The plot just ends up not sitting well: the surprise “twist” falls absolutely flat. This is all the more disappointing because the requisite components for a great thriller are all in place.
