Write a commentGrowing up in the 1980s was no small feat. Sure, there were much more tumultuous times to come of age, but between Reaganomics and Satanic panic, being a child that was somewhat interested in horror came at a price.
The strangest part about it is I was always simultaneously fascinated and terrified.
In case many of these fears weren't already evident in the public psyche, a little show called "Unsolved Mysteries" seemed to add fuel to the paranoiac fire. Tales of aliens and Bigfoot were equally interspersed with ripped-from-the-headlines true crime. Murders and kidnappings being mentioned in the same breath as things much more fantastical lent a fair amount of credence to the possibility you'd walk out your front porch and cross paths with an 8-foot man-ape.
In Zach Cregger's brilliant "Weapons", he seems to understand this. While I will avoid overt spoilers, that same unease permeates every frame of the film. In interviews since the release, Cregger has explained one of his primary influences was Denis Villeneuve's "Prisoners" from 2013. This is evident in the visuals, but not so much the tone.
For those of you who are not aware, "Weapons" concerns a small town dealing with the mass disappearance of a classroom of children at 2:17 A.M. They're just gone. The film jumps around in the plot to give you different perspectives of the town folk including a teacher (Julia Garner), the father of one of the missing children (Josh Brolin) and the only child left in the classroom (Cary Christopher) among others. Each subsequent section of the film adds depth to the story and peels back layer upon layer until we finally find out the answers to (the majority of) our questions.
The most unexpected aspect of this film, for me anyway, was the tone of it. For the most part, at least for the first two acts, it doesn't really operate as a horror movie. Much of the themes and actions throughout are just simple people dealing with a complex problem. As we've all experienced in the past, you throw too many people at the same problem, your results vary. The adage "too many cooks spoil the broth" isn't popular by accident.
Beyond all that, Cregger gives himself enough breathing room to allow for some genuinely funny moments. Considering his background in sketch comedy and his previous film "Barbarian", it's no surprise that there are moments in the film that practically give you whiplash from the tonal shifts.
The cast is all completely game. Julia Garner is continuing to prove herself a force to be reckoned with. While I haven't seen much of "Ozark", I've heard nothing but positive things about her performance in it. Earlier this year, she starred in the remake of "Wolf Man". While the film itself wasn't great, she was a standout. She's the type of actress who effortlessly commands the screen. Josh Brolin has become one of Hollywood's most reliable actors. We all know he was Thanos and some of us old folks remember him as Brand from "The Goonies", but with "Weapons", he shows how, similar to Garner, to slide into a role. His steady hand is needed to balance out Garner's performance.
All the actors in the film did a fine job. I won't mention one of them because they're part of the twist. What I will say is Cary Christopher, who plays Alex in the film, reminded me of Haley Joel Osment in "The Sixth Sense". Many child actors run the risk of being precocious or generally annoying, but Christopher takes on a difficult role while ultimately being the heart of the film. It's a practically Herculean task, but he's up for the challenge.
All in all, "Weapons" is a great time at the movies. It's thrilling, scary and funny while also being continually surprising. It's not often a director like Cregger comes along, but between "Barbarian" and now "Weapons", I can only hope he's here to stay.
Rating (out of ****): ***1/2
