To say that Weapons, the latest film from rising writer/director Zach Cregger, enters theaters on a hype train may be a bit of an understatement. The script was a hot commodity in Hollywood, building whispers of its high quality that only grew louder once news hit that in the wake of the bidding war to its production rights, none other than Jordan Peele fired his management team for losing the battle over its rights. The anticipation of its release is finally over and audiences can see for themselves if it lives up to its pre-release hype.
At 2:17am, 17 of 18 children in the Mayfield Elementary third grade classroom of Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) got out of bed and ran away disappearing in the night. Justine and the lone student who didn’t run named Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) are left to ponder what happened and answer investigators’ questions. Parents suspect Justine of somehow being involved with local contractor Archer Graff (Josh Brolin) being the most vocal, determined to find out what has happened to his son Matthew. As the story unfolds, we soon find out what is behind the mysterious happenings in the small town.
The strength in this film lies not just within its story, which is an intriguing horror tale in and of itself that I won’t spoil here, but in how the tale unfolds. Its structure is immaculately constructed by Cregger with a series of vignettes for multiple characters that echoes Pulp Fiction in the way that intersect and connect the fuller story, but also in the multiple vantage point style established by the seminal 1950 film Rashomon for which the titular psychological effect was named. The film is divided into chapters titled after specific characters that show parts of the story from their individual perspective. This narrative structure allows the story of what exactly has happened in Mayfield to unfold in a way that is extremely well paced, keeping the audience fully entrenched in the narrative for the full two hours and engrossing so that the story itself is strengthened by being revealed layer by layer through multiple perspectives. It gives each character special importance and weight and allows each actor to have their moment which all take advantage of.
Garner and Brolin are the characters with the most screen time and thus take the most advantage of their opportunities with strong performances that provoke both frustration and empathy, depending on the vantage point shown, with Benedict Wong’s turn as school Principal Andrew Marcus and Austin Abrams as local addict and petty criminal James pulling in strong performances as well. Abrams in particular stands out by providing high quality comic relief in a horror film that is surprisingly funnier than you’d expect. The young Cary Christopher also shines in his key role as Alex, answering the call from the script in displaying the emotion required for his character’s arc. The role of Alex calls for a believable, empathetic performance opposed adult actors displaying some heavy emotion themselves and Christopher stands toe to toe with his elders, delivering during the third act and allowing the film to stick the landing in completing the story and his arc. The actor who stands out the most however outside of the main two characters is Amy Madigan who plays Gladys, the formerly estranged aunt of Alex. She is at once sinister, charming, and funny in a pivotal role, able to turn terrifyingly evil on a dime following a disarming smile, in a completely commanding performance that deserves recognition.
An additional element that elevates the film is the way that Creggers and director of photography Larkin Seiple utilize the camera and Joe Murphy edits the film to create a dynamic style that feels incredibly cinematic. Weapons features a quick edit that fuses match cuts, Dutch angles, and tracking shots that are very stylistic and gives the film a visual flair to accompany the engrossing story. All of these elements combine to make Weapons perhaps the best film of the year (so far) that features scares, laughs, and above all, entertainment. Cregger perfectly crafts his story to pull in the audience without letting go and is aided in this effort by a fantastic cast led by Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Amy Madigan, and Cary Christopher. It has a surprising amount of humor and, while it feels weird to say for a horror film, features maybe the funniest scene of the year in its ending that should feel goofy but actually works perfectly in tandem with what the film has established, yet another testament to Cregger’s work. Weapons is more than worthy of both its pre-release reputation and your time at the movies.
Image: New Line Cinema
