So many horror movies start out with a really great concept that when you see the basic idea introduced in the trailer, you’re eager to watch the film, just to see how this plays out--only for the movie to fall flat on its face, thanks to the filmmakers being unable to run with the idea. Weapons is one such horror movie that deftly avoids this pitfall. The main intriguing idea that Weapons has is the mysterious disappearance of an entire classroom of students at a specific time--2:17 am--one dark night.
But these children don’t just vanish. They’re each seen running out of their homes on security cameras, still clad in their pajamas, with their arms bent back as they run, as if they’re flying. Once out of sight of the cameras, the children--17 in all--seemingly disappear off the face of the earth. If they were abducted by strangers, it would actually make for an easier case for the police to work. But it’s an even more bizarre mystery with the children having all ran off of their own accord--with the exception of a lone boy named Alex (Cary Christopher), who shows up to class all by himself the next morning.
Justine (Julia Garner), their teacher, is blamed by the frantic parents of the missing for having done…something. Since it was her entire classroom the vanished (save for Alex) children were from, the rationalization is that Justine must be behind it. Becoming the target of the irrational fears of the townspeople, Justine is terrorized in her home at night, with the word ’witch’ scrawled in red on both of the driver and passenger sides of her car.
Julia Garner, who was one of the best things about the disappointing Wolf Man earlier this year, gives another engaging performance in Weapons. While she’s not happy about being sidelined from her teaching job, Justine starts her own investigation. And she also shacks up with Paul (Alden Ehrenreich, from Solo: a Star Wars Story), her ex-boyfriend and a local cop who has some problems of his own. Josh Brolin (Dune Parts 1&2) is also very good as Archer, a parent of one of the missing children who relentlessly investigates the case on his own. And the always good Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange) rounds out the superb cast.
Writer/director Zach Cregger takes the high concept premise of Weapons and flies with it, delivering an excellent movie that remains immensely fascinating the further along it goes. He also introduces a central villain that is extremely unnerving and scary--and who deserves to become one of the more memorable screen villains. My only quibble with Weapons is that several scenes are so dark it’s hard to see what's happening. But, overall, Weapons is an intelligently-done thriller that's populated with fully fleshed-out characters who don’t make stupid decisions, all while serving a tight, riveting storyline that’s so well told that it ultimately makes for a very satisfying viewing experience. Don't miss it. --SF
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