Weapons Review: An Anxiety-Filled Mystery

Zach Cregger is a rising horror director whose name is one to watch in this space following his sophomore film, Weapons. And we already know what his next project will be: Resident Evil, which I honestly can not wait for. Zach is fantastic at creating an interesting hook that will even interest non-horror fans. I was thoroughly impressed by Barbarians, and Weapons has exceeded my expectations. It’s a confidentially made film, blending in horror and dark humor in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the tone of the film. Yes, it’s horrifying, but the emotion I felt the most when watching this film was anxiety. I was on the edge of my seat for so much of the runtime. This Weapons review will be spoiler-free.

Weapons is in theaters now.

See related: 5 Biggest Horror Movies Releasing In August 2025

Story – The Missing Classroom

One night, at 2:17 am, children all belonging to the same classroom leave their houses and vanish into the dark. And thus starts the mystery. There are different perspectives in the film that further flesh out what is going on, but that is the basic premise of Weapons. To avoid spoilers of any kind, I’ll leave it at that. But in terms of how the story is? I loved it. It’s one of those films where you’re not 100% sure where it’s going at first. You have an idea and theory throughout the film, but there are a lot of twists and turns in Weapons. And man is it stressful. You are following various stories at the same time, each with their own individual conflicts that somehow tie together into one cohesive tale.

The camera footage of the kids leaving the house is unnerving

Some perspectives don’t work as well as the others, though. They feel partially sliced from a different movie altogether. Although they do ultimately tie into the original tale, they don’t feel entirely necessary. That’s not to say they were bad, however. I was engrossed throughout its runtime. I’d even watch their tale further because it was a much different perspective on things. That is where most of the humor in the film kicked in. 

Apart from some odd character perspectives, the ending might also be something that some people might not enjoy. It could partially be the “answer” to everything but also the resolution of that answer. Personally, I loved it. I didn’t see the conclusion coming and it made sense for the world here. It’s a dark and twisted mystery that landed well for this horror lover.

Characters and Performances – Unified Horror

The mystery at the center of Weapons affects an entire town, and as such, we are given the perspective of several characters. That being said, Justine (Julia Garner), the teacher in charge of the classroom of missing students is the character we spent the most time with. The parents of those kids are confused and are looking at Justine as someone who potentially has some unearthed answers. Why would only her classroom be the one affected after all? Did she have something to do with it? Julia Garner has been on a role this year. I loved watching her in Ozark and am happy that she is getting more opportunities. She’s a fantastic actor and easily slid into this role with ease. 

Most parents are thinking the teacher is suspicious

Another perspective we see is Archer, played by Josh Brolin. Archer is a parent of one of the missing students. He is making mistakes at his job due to be unable to focus on anything other than his missing child. We get to see how he goes about that experience. After Justine’s perspective, I’d say Archer has the most notable and most interesting perspective here. I quite liked his character and wished we got to see even more from him. And of course, Josh Brolin is great here. There are more perspectives in the film, but I don’t want to go too far into the plot. It’s fun to see where things go and to see different characters mysteriously tie into the story. Weapons is full of characters, and each one of the actors that portrayed them, did so in a dark and warped way. The actors in Weapons made it feel like a lived in town with many secrets and insidious deeds around each corner.

Pacing and Editing – Tight Script 

There is a slight moment in Weapons where the plot slows down a bit. I think that was when I finally started to piece together what was going on. The film takes a bit of time to explain things although you as the audience more or less know. At that point, I wanted it to move a little quicker to see the conclusion. I was never bored or checking my watch when watching Weapons. I was immersed in the story and various characters. As such, the film moved at a lighting pace. I wanted to know what was happening and what these characters were going to do to get out of their various situations. Weapons is 2 hours and 8 minutes long but moves quickly enough that I thought it was shorter. Apart from the few examples I gave earlier, Weapons keeps its tight pace. 

Archer lost a child and is looking for answers

The quick pacing is also bolstered by the editing. There aren’t any stories here that drag, even the ones that don’t seem like they entirely belong. What I also liked is that the stories also all end at a place where the excitement and anxiety really start to click in. There was a scene with Justine that had me and everyone in the theater I was in, gasping. And then the movie transitions to another pov. You’d think that would hinder the pacing, but we were all just happy we could breathe again. Zach Cregger does a great job of tying everything together here. You see bits and parts from other stories. It’s just enough for you to get an idea of when things took place and then Weapons goes down another path you didn’t expect. Everything feels new and nothing feels retreaded. 

The Horror

Weapons doesn’t feature a whole lot of jump scares. Most of the scares in this film are scenes where the tension is at all all time high and you’re just waiting for something bad to go down. Zach utilizes silence and anticipation to affectively unnerve the audience. By far, the most frightening scene in the movie is one involving someone leaving a house at night. It involves a car. If you know, you know. Everyone gasped. It wasn’t a jump scare either. No one jumped. But everyone was terrified. It was a moment that apart from some creepy sounding instruments playing, was silent. It was a prolonged scene where you are wishing for the best with your eyes closed. You don’t know where it’s going, and you don’t want to watch to see the madness unfold. There are a lot of anxiety filled moments in this film. It’s what makes it stand out from other horror films this year. It’s maybe not the “scariest” but it was certainly the one that gave me the most anxiety. 

Cinematography and Sound: A Palpable Mood

I think Weapons captured a suburban town quite effectively. It’s the type of place that I could see Halloween still being a thing. Weapons basks the town in darkness, both in the mood and lighting. It added to the overall atmosphere of the film, where everything seemed a bit of a mystery. When it came to the horror and action though, Zach gets in close on it. There was a scene where running is involved towards the end of the film. It was this scene and the aggression behind the camera that gave me the faith that this director will be able to pull off Resident Evil. It was thrilling.

There are a lot of eerie scenes that take place at night

I don’t even know how to describe the audio in Weapons. There are some more quieter moments while the tension builds, but there are also a long of smaller instances of creepy  music playing that felt almost disoriented. It all contributed to what the scene was displaying and the overall mood of the film. There is a mystery at the center and the sound in Weapons supported that splendidly. It felt intense and unnerving during some of the more anxiety inducing scenes. 

Have you seen the film or are you planning on seeing it? Do you agree with this review of Weapons? Let us know below!