By Ryan Patrick.

The best recommendation for this film is actually a bit of trivia I saw while researching this review. Jordan Peele, the filmmaker behind Get Out, Us, and Nope, fired his management for losing the bidding war for this screenplay. So if you’re a fan of modern horror, especially those with underlying social messages, go out and see this film. It’s definitely the best horror film of the last few years. But if you’re not entirely sold on that, read on. 

I’m going to avoid spoiling too much for this review, as with Zach Cregger’s first film, the breakout hit of 2022, Barbarian, it’s best if you go in as blind as possible. But I’ll give you a quick rundown of the premise. 

At 2:17 am, 17 kids run out of their houses, never to be seen again. They are all from the same class, and only one kid shows up to school the next day. No one can explain what happened. However, as the introduction narration mentions, this is the story of what happened afterwards, as the narrative weaves together six characters’ stories, puzzle-like, as they try to piece together what happened. Very Magnolia-like. 

The film is well-made, with some great performances by Julia Garner (I am a Ruth stan, though) as the teacher of the class trying to deal with what happened to her. Josh Brolin also puts in work as the distressed father who is broken by the loss of his son. The standout for me however was Austin Abrams as the drug addict dragged into the plot, injecting a bit of Cregger’s trademark black humour into the film. It was well directed with some good-looking shots, though nothing that wowed me. The soundtrack is similarly mostly pretty understated. 

You might recognise Cregger from the cult TV show The Whitest Kids U’ Know, so the horror is balanced by a surprising amount of humour in the film, especially in the third act when it becomes a little more campy. I was admittedly laughing more than most in the theatre though. It is still pretty gory though, so be warned if you are on the squeamish side. 

The themes and symbolism are what you can probably guess from a film called Weapons about a classroom of children gone missing in the USA. However, the first two-thirds of the film sing as an exploration of the deep sadness and darkness of a community after a tragedy. Unfortunately, it falls down a little bit when it has to actually explain what is happening. Which is  a complaint I had with Cregger’s first film, Barbarian, as well. Though that just proves Hitchcock right, that it’s all about the suspense, not the bang. 

So if you’re up for an exploration of the dark side of American suburbia, naruto run, don’t walk into the cinema to see Weapons.