"Weapons:" Zach Cregger's Cinematic Double-Down

The comedy to horror filmmaking pipeline has been perhaps the most interesting one to watch evolve over the past decade or so. From Jordan Peele to the Phillipou brothers, to Zach Cregger, these filmmakers have more than successfully reinvented themselves. Zach Cregger’s first feature Barbarian was a major announcement, and was beloved by many. While some criticized its occasionally choppy blending of comedy and horror, Cregger since has doubled down, and responded to those criticisms with one of the most confident, masterful tonal balancing acts of the past few years. I can confidently say,Weapons is downright spectacular. 

“Last night at 2:17 AM, every child from Mrs. Gandy’s class woke up, got out of bed, went downstairs, opened the front door, walked into the dark… and they never came back.” was for months the only piece of information we had as audiences to garner anticipation for the film. I started creating expectations in my own head off of such minimalist exposure, because within the first two minutes of the film it was pretty clear that Weapons was going to be exceedingly different from what I could've predicted, and I had to spend some time on my first watch re-grounding myself and learning to just go with the flow. I legitimately never at any point was able to guess where the film was going to go next. 

The film follows a non-linear structure and has already drawn comparisons to Pulp Fiction or Magnolia, mostly because of the ensemble cast, and dark comedy, but that's where the similarities end. I’ve seen some complaints that the non-linear structure doesn’t exist for any major purpose beyond revealing information to the audience... but isn’t that kind of the point? The real test of a non-linear film is to think back after it’s over and imagine it told chronologically. Weapons would not be nearly as effective if told linearly… and not just because of reveal timing. 

I expected the film to be funny, but I didn't expect it to make me laugh so hard, so consistently. That’s not to say that the film isn’t unsettling, because believe me there were a couple of moments that make my stomach drop at the mere thought of them. But the integration of the comedy amongst the horror is some of the most seamless that I’ve seen in some time, and it’s never at the expense of the themes.

This film deals with very heavy, timely discussions that have not been discussed nearly enough in the era we’re living in, and the comedy is only ever at the expense of the absurdity of the plot, or individual situations. There is no compromise whatsoever to the seriousness of the film’s messaging. Whether you absorb the school shooting allegories, the toxic masculinity messages, the discussions on how we’re destroying our children’s future by always trying to shift accountability, or just straight up paranoia and grief, there is always something for you to chew on. There are certainly elements to the lore that I wish were better developed, but I could not have had a more opposing experience to the people claiming this film to be “hollow.” I would agree to a certain extent that the ending is abrupt, but once again, it’s in favor of something much bigger at play. Whether or not those things work for you is entirely up to your own taste, but to dismiss it entirely feels deeply contradictory. I will say however, that it was really beautiful to watch the internet come together and instantly shut down the attempts at a transphobic argument across the board. 

Not to mention the direction is utterly superb. Cregger’s influences are undeniable, but the way he manipulates framing, and the timing of certain movements and blocking here feels so surgically singular and precise. There are a couple of jump scares here that are new all-timers for me. The camera is almost always moving, but he never does the same trick twice. 

I also believe that the Internet owes Alden Ehrenreich a million apologies. He had a bit of a resurgence after his supporting performance in Oppenheimer, but he gives probably the funniest performance in the film, and it’s by far his best performance. I’ll officially watch anything he does just for him. 

Numbers are tracking for this to have a better opening weekend than anticipated, which would be a massive step in the right direction for original mid to large budget filmmakers. I don’t want to hear a peep out of anyone’s mouth about how movies aren’t as good as they used to be, if they don’t go out and see this. Between Weapons, Sinners, 28 Years Later, and Bring Her Back, with four and a half months left to go in the year, 2025 is hands-down the best year for horror filmmaking since at least 1999, and it isn’t even close.