Weapons – Review

Cert – 18, Run-time – 2 hours 8 minutes, Director – Zach Cregger

2:17am, a class of children run out of their homes not to be seen again. A month later the town is still looking for answers, with the finger being pointed towards teacher Justine (Julia Garner).

Writer-director Zach Cregger has claimed that his Barbarian follow-up is partly inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. The influence comes through in the separate chapters which play out as a community searches for answers a month after a class of third grade children go missing into the night. At 2:17am each one runs out of their homes, arms stretched out, with no trace of them beyond brief doorbell camera footage. Much of the blame is put on teacher Justine (Julia Garner), attacked and hounded by parents and other residents, particularly Josh Brolin’s heartbroken father Archer, spending each night sleeping in his missing son’s bed.

The pair make up the first two chapters of Weapons, following a prologue detailing the events that led to where we are now. The narrative from there jumps back and forth ever so slightly. Some showing events from different perspectives, others simply showing how the events have affected characters differently. It makes for a slow set of events in the first hour where while Cregger’s use of the camera has some solid effect the way he views the characters feels slightly out of reach from forming a full emotional connection, as if only just a step away.

Mystery should be the biggest draw. And while it has some impact, especially during some of the freakier moments – albeit much of what provides the 18 rating is saved for the later stages – I found myself enjoying the eventual reveals and explanations more than much of what came beforehand. It’s where some of the most twisted elements come to the fore and stretch beyond the more dramatic tones of the opening chapters where much of the push comes from the brief bursts of the horror and the instances where characters crossover in their search for answer, although not always a joint search as shown between Garner and Brolin’s characters, or even Alden Ehrenreich’s (always a welcome face, who I still hope to see in bigger, more central roles since Hail Caesar) troubled police officer and Austin Abrams in-need-of-cash drug addict James.

This latter pairing is where Cregger begins to explore the darker elements at play much more upfront, and becomes somewhat more concise. Luckily, as the film threatens to border on feeling overlong he brings out the most fun details and elements, and darkly comedic beats to wrap things up with. Turning something akin to a sequence in 28 Days Later on its head, seemingly having the most fun with what he’s given himself to play with after all the ambiguity in the approach. Ambiguity which while having some effect never quite creates the interest it perhaps hopes for, including creating an overhanging threat as Justine tries to find a way to talk to the only remaining student in her class (Cary Christopher’s Alex) or Archer’s grief sets him out on a personal investigation.

The ensemble cast each put in good performances, including a short turn from Benedict Wong as the elementary school’s headteacher. They help to lift the film up during the more drawn out moments, largely in the first hour where characters are generally left on their own in terms of both physicality and perspective. When bouncing off of each other the film is lifted up even more, alongside the push of things feeling more connected, Weapons is at its best. This is perhaps why the second half, where answers are explored more up until the final sequences with their own sense of dark fun that’s not entirely present in the rest of the film.

Weapons is a film where the answers are more satisfying and engaging than the mystery of the build-up. At its best during darker sequences and when crossing over its solid ensemble cast, there’s just enough here to stop it from outstaying its welcome.