Weapons Movie Review: Quirky.. Fun.. Scary!

Introduction

What if— someone took out Quinten Tarantino's chapter-style screenplay (Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2), tweaked it according to the context, and used it in a horror film? Feeling weird, aren't you? Well, you need to check out Zach Cregger's new horror-thriller Weapons, right now; you will be proven wrong big time! After 2022's sleeper hit Barbarian, Zach Cregger presents to you Weapons; produced by New Line Cinema and distributed by Warner Bros, this film stars Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Alden Ehrenreich, and Austin Abrams in the lead roles. 

Basic Plot

In Maybrook, Pennsylvania, all the children from Miss Gandy's class mysteriously go missing on a Wednesday, baffling the parents and legal authorities.

Positives

Performances and Dark Humor

What the lead cast does in terms of performance is truly amazing to watch. It's mainly due to Cregger's screenplay that the lead characters find equal place and weightage in the story, and the actors have utilized the well set platform and amplified the goodness. Julia Garner as the teacher Justine Gandy is quite convincing, who balances her act very well between thrilling and humor scenes. There were some scenes where I felt she could've toned down her act a bit, but it's not too serious a problem, and you would get away with it pretty easily. Josh Brolin and Benedict Wong as the father of a missing child and the school principal respectively, have played their parts pretty well too, but the showstopper of them all has to be Amy Madigan's act! Man, she's just brilliant with her act as Aunt Gladys! Her dialogue delivery and screen presence are just fantastic to watch and I love how her seemingly caricaturish character can incept such fear and rage into a viewer! She's just a cartoonish woman in one scenes, and a dangerous lady in the next who can instantly control the environment if she wants— a devil who's hard to catch! What's also worth noting is the dark humor and quirky dialogues that the film has, which gets heavily uplifted not only by the delivery, but also their placement in the screenplay. The black comedy is organically blended into the screenplay— plenty of that come in as respite scenes after thrilling or scary moments, and this entire setup of juggling between horror, thrill, and comedy is top-notch! 

Direction, Screenplay, and Storytelling

After Barbarian (2022), I went in with high hopes from Zach Cregger— and I’ve got to say, it feels really good when a film actually delivers! What's amazing is the way the screenplay has been established— breaking the writing into chapters to focus on the main characters one at a time. The chapter-style format is a perfect fit, since the film juggles four or five characters and events at once—and honestly, it’s the only way this story could’ve packed in the thrill it does. These 'chapters' do overlap with one another at several instances but it's Cregger's fluidic direction that makes the film so lucid and simple to understand, keeping the pulpy nature of the writing intact. The storytelling does a good job of setting up the who and how, and not only that- each of these chapters finish on a high as well, making the film all the more intriguing to watch. I also liked that the director didn’t just rely on abrupt jump-scares to keep the audience in constant ‘brace for impact’ mode. What he does instead, is follow the formula of his 2022's outing, making the film uneasy to watch at times. The eerie feeling is amplified by classic tropes— a good color grading, a minimalist sound design (remaining silent most of the time and creeping in at key moments to deliver chills), a nicely staged dream sequence, and some good camera angles too! Two very specific one take sequences- one involving the police car, and the other involving a child breaking through window panes and houses in the climax, are very quirkily shot that gives you the 'oh that's a dope shot' feel. A handful of gore shots are kept as well: a person smashing other's head with his own head, a man getting ran over by a car and the flesh from his head is just scattered on the road as a result, a bunch of children tearing apart a person's brain, eyes, and face and eating the flesh— absolute nuts! 

Underwhelming Aspects

Focus on adventure and Tonal Shifts

Although this film does excellent in holding the mystery till the very end, there are a few aspects that are not so in favor of the film. The investigative portions do not really make much of an impact and it seems like the 'not so active' police department was intentionally established to make way for Julia Garner and Josh Brolin to do what Liam Neeson does in Jaume Collet Serra films; jumping into complex events with no prior idea about the same.. taking matter into own hands.. settling things after a 'fun to watch; fight. Seriously speaking, I don't really know why Zach Cregger decided to go 'full commercial' in the climax, after playing things realistically safe through-out the film. This creates a noticeable difference in the tonality of the film. I mean, you'll have a lot of fun with a few 'edge of the seat moments' coupled with twists and turns in the final act, but I would've liked if the film ended in the realistic zone only. Also, the 'why' aspect of the film is never really addressed in the film, and while the absence of 'why' can be linked to Cregger's potential plans for a sequel or at least a spin-off- the open ending of the film really had me frustratingly questioning about what this film would lead to.

Conclusion

Zach Cregger's Weapons is a film that skillfully ties elements like horror, mystery, cannibalism, humor, witch-crafting, and character development on a single string; all thanks to it's writing and storytelling. It is further enhanced by strong cast performances, subtle jump-scares, some very nicely done jump cuts, and core family emotions (child actor Cary Christopher really outshines others in the later half of the film). Although you're left with some questions, the primary one being about the entire 'clown' concept that the film has and it's relation to the happenings of the film- this is a very entertaining and quirky horror film, filled with brilliantly placed dark humor, that will surely replicate Barbarian's success. 'I can make your parents hurt each other.. I can make them eat each other'. This dialogue comes right after a scene where a married couple wildly prick their own faces with forks! Chilling isn't it?

Watch Out For

• Screenplay and storytelling
• Cast performances
• The climax that superbly blends horror and humor

WTF Rating

8/10