Weapons (2025) opens with one of the most chilling hooks you’ll hear in any movie this year: at exactly 2:17 a.m., every child from Mrs. Gandy’s class woke up, walked downstairs, opened the front door, stepped into the dark… and never came back. It’s the kind of premise that immediately grabs you, the kind of logline that sells itself in a trailer and sticks in your head for days. Writer-director Zach Cregger, who burst onto the horror scene with 2022’s Barbarian, proves once again that he knows how to start a story with an irresistible, terrifying question.
What makes Weapons stand out in the current horror landscape is how unapologetically it leans into its central mystery. After nearly a decade of “elevated” horror films that riff on grief and trauma in the wake of Hereditary, Cregger still touches those themes, but he also remembers that horror can be scary simply because its images are scary. Basements are scary. Missing children are scary. Small towns with secrets are scary. And Cregger knows exactly how to make you believe it.
The film’s structure is one of its most intriguing elements. Rather than diving straight into what happened that night, Weapons unfolds in an episodic fashion, showing the ripple effects in the days and weeks that follow. It’s not quite an anthology, but the approach is similar—individual segments focus on different characters, with their stories intertwining in unexpected ways. One moment you’re following Mrs. Gandy (Julia Garner) in the immediate aftermath, the next you’re with Archer (Josh Brolin), the father of one of the missing kids, or Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), an impulsive local cop. Other perspectives come from Marcus (Benedict Wong), the school principal; James (Austin Abrams), a small-town junkie; and Alex (Cary Christopher), the sole child from Gandy’s class who didn’t vanish.
Like Barbarian, the film isn’t afraid to jump around in time, sometimes leaping forward, sometimes going far back, and often revisiting the same moment from a different character’s perspective. Cregger uses this non-linear approach to steadily drip-feed information, giving you just enough to chew on while keeping you slightly disoriented. Every segment ends with a jolt—sometimes gory, sometimes chaotic, always memorable.
For most of its runtime, Weapons is riveting. It’s sharply written, tightly directed, and edited with precision. Cregger builds tension by knowing exactly how much to withhold, letting the audience get comfortable only to pull the rug out from under them. However, the final act doesn’t quite match the inventiveness of the setup. The ultimate reveal—rooted in occult and witchcraft—feels more conventional than what the early sections promise. The twist is foreshadowed about halfway through, starting during Marcus’ segment, which means some viewers may feel a few steps ahead by the time the climax arrives. Where Barbarian kept surprising until the very end, Weapons settles into more familiar territory in its final act.
Even so, the performances carry the film beautifully. Julia Garner brings raw energy to Mrs. Gandy, Josh Brolin anchors his scenes with loud, powerful desperation, and Alden Ehrenreich gives Paul an increasingly impulsive side. Wong, Abrams, and Christopher each leave their mark, and the ensemble works together to keep the mystery alive even as the answers become clearer. The film’s tonal shifts—balancing horror, dark humor, and bursts of chaos—are handled with confidence, and in a packed theater, the energy is electric. The final climactic sequence involving the missing kids drew audible gasps, laughs, and even cheers from my audience.
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Big, original horror movies rarely get this kind of scale and marketing push anymore, and Weapons feels like proof of what’s possible when a studio bets on a filmmaker with a clear vision. Cregger isn’t trying to make horror “like they used to”—he’s showing what the genre can be now, in the hands of someone who understands both the mechanics of fear and the thrill of showmanship. This is his second landmark horror film of the decade, and it cements him as one of the most exciting genre directors working today.
Score: 8/10
Weapons (2025)
- Cast: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Cary Christopher, Austin Abrams
- Director: Zach Cregger
- Genre: Horror, Mystery
- Runtime: 129 minutes
- Rated: R
- Release Date: August 8, 2025
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