On one unassuming Wednesday night, exactly at 2:17 am in Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen children in Justine Grady’s class got out of their beds and sprinted away from their house with arms wide open. No security cameras have recorded their whereabouts.
Described by writer-director Zach Cregger as a horror epic in the style of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia”, “Weapons” deals with a town in collective mourning, all told in different perspectives of individuals that may or may not have anything to do with the mysterious disappearance of the children.
It mainly follows Justine (Julia Garner), the teacher to blame, as everyone, but one, in her class vanished that night. She is desperate for clues and answers like everyone else. She chanced upon Alex (Cary Christopher), the sole kid from her class spared from all this chaos. The film is bookended by their points of view.
How did the kids go missing? “Weapons” cleverly utilized its reveal as a jumpstart to push its story forward instead of being the big twist of the mystery. The how isn’t the least of its concerns, but where do we go after? This is a film about grief, with a horrific incident tying its subjects together.
Grief in “Weapons” comes in the form of a father missing his son to a homeless drug addict in hiding, waiting for his next hit.
Like “Magnolia”, the film’s exploration of people at their most vulnerable conditions went in unexpectedly funny directions. We see a teacher who hasn’t done anything wrong keeps screwing around, and her ex-boyfriend cop is on a string of bad days for not managing his anger issues.
Setting up its characters as helpless souls affords “Weapons” the opportunity to give them a satisfying, unapologetic send-off to conclude their arcs. Pain overflowing within us often enables us to do things we never dared do. For me, this is where “Weapons” became truly scary. What people do when they’re at their worst is often the most absurd. This film can be absurd, and what a joy to see it unfold.
“Weapons” is now showing in cinemas nationwide.
Featured photos from Warner Bros. Pictures.
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