By Robert Scucci | Published 3 weeks ago
Weapons was the most talked about horror movie this summer and has cemented Zach Cregger’s legacy as an up-and-coming horror auteur worth watching. A total vibe piece from start to finish, Weapons tells its story through non-linear means, replaying the same sequence of events from multiple perspectives before everything chaotically converges in the final act. It constantly makes you question which recollection is real as its mystery unravels. Picking it apart is half the fun thanks to Cregger’s ability to create unease while breaking tension with dark humor, making for a one-of-a-kind experience.
Thriving on imperfect memories and a looming sense of metaphysical dread, Weapons is a masterclass in surreal storytelling and a kaleidoscope of raw emotional baggage that comes with the territory when 17 kids vanish from a small community without a trace.
Weapons’ Unraveling Mystery
Weapons’ heavy lifting doesn’t come from its tight storyline but from how it’s presented. Seventeen kids from Justine’s (Julie Garner) grade-school class mysteriously disappear overnight, except for one, Alex (Cary Christopher). Naturally, the entire community is in an uproar, blaming Justine for doing nothing wrong except being their teacher. The trauma of losing a child isn’t something anyone should experience, and grief often comes hand in hand with misplaced blame.
Josh Brolin in Weapons (2025)
Archer (Josh Brolin), whose son Matthew (Luke Speakman) was among the missing, becomes obsessed and leads the charge to find them. Justine is his primary target, though she’s just a sad drunk who’s as devastated as everyone else. Marcus (Benedict Wong), the school principal, tries to keep the town calm but knows it’s impossible. Nothing like this has ever happened in Maybrook, Pennsylvania.
Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a police officer and Justine’s ex-boyfriend, has leads of his own, though they may be unreliable since they come from James (Austin Abrams), a vagrant and drug addict looking to cash in on the reward money for the missing children in Weapons.
Enter: Gladys
Amy Madigan in Weapons (2025)
While Justine is as much a victim as the kids in Weapons, Gladys (Amy Madigan) lurks behind every darkened corner, suggesting she might be involved. Most of my single friends exercise caution around women in their “red hair phase.” They also warn about women who suddenly chop off their bangs, saying this typically comes after a dramatic breakup. I’ve been happily married for 11 years, so I can’t confirm these theories. If they’re true, though, watch out for Gladys. She’s the walking, talking embodiment of that so-called unstable phase. Just look at that hairdo.
A Haircut more unfortunate than the missing children in Weapons
Gladys shows up in town right before everything goes down in Weapons, introducing herself as Alex’s aunt, even though no one in his family has seen her in years or even remembers what she looks like. Something’s clearly off, yet she’s polite enough in public, driving the mystery into darker territory the longer she sticks around.
It’s Not The Story, It’s How It’s Told
Josh Brolin has had enough
Weapons is a terrifying film when stripped to its most basic elements. The real hook, however, is the disjointed, non-linear framework it’s presented with. Cregger has said in interviews that every shot has unintended consequences because of how it was filmed.
Cars parked in the background from Justine’s perspective don’t line up during the same scenes shown from Archer’s point of view. Many viewers call these slipups continuity errors, and they’re right. There are plenty of them. The thing is, we’re seeing a community full of traumatized, grief-stricken people searching for answers. Instead of treating these inconsistencies as mistakes, Cregger uses them to suggest imperfect memories fogged by emotional baggage.
From beloved teacher to overnight outcast
As a result, Weapons plays out like a nightmare that makes little logical sense yet holds together through shared emotion. It doesn’t matter if what we’re seeing is legitimate because we’re witnessing what people perceive during one of the darkest chapters of their lives.
Add in nightmarish flashes of Gladys’ face and escalating tension between the principal characters, and Weapons becomes a playground of misdirection. Viewers will find themselves scanning every frame for clues, second-guessing what’s real and what’s not.
The New Measuring Stick For Elevated Horror
“Elevated horror” is a term thrown around for films that value mood and atmosphere over straightforward storytelling. Longlegs fits that bill but leans too far into ambiguity to deliver a satisfying payoff. While it’s a solid entry from Osgood Perkins, Cregger takes the torch and sprints with it.
Kids being kids
There are still plenty of unanswered questions in Weapons, and its symbolism hides metaphors within metaphors. Its power comes from a genuine fear of the unknown and the way it toys with your emotions as you try to unpack what’s unfolding on screen.
The best mainstream horror film I’ve seen in 2025, Weapons is proving its strength by sitting in the number one spot on Max as of this writing. Your only regret after streaming it will be not catching it on the big screen.