Back in 2022, director Zach Cregger made a splash within the horror community for his film “Barbarian”, which audiences seemed to lap up, and think was the next big thing. Personally, I hated every second of it and was not shy at expressing my hate for the film, nor my frustration that so many horror fans thought that the idiocy on display within the film was not only good in their eyes, but most thought it was outstanding. I just could not see it, as I thought “Barbarian” was a very sloppy, and poorly made film, particularly during the film's second half, which is the half everyone else seems to love.
Well this year, Cregger returned with his follow-up movie, “Weapons”, and lightning seemed to strike twice for him, as the film was a massive hit, but this time it was also loved by people outside of just horror fans. It became that rare crossover hit, that saw horror enter the mainstream, and for a while there, it was the film everyone was talking about. Originally, due to my utter disdain of “Barbarian” I had no plans to see “Weapons” at all, but once the very strong word-of-mouth followed, I decided to give the film a chance and see what all the fuss was about. This time around, I agreed with the majority and thought that “Weapons” was actually a very good film, but I also think it is not as good or as original as everyone seems to think it is, which is why I think it was the most overrated film of 2025.
What “Weapons” does have going for it is an outstanding set-up and mystery, when all the kids (bar one) from one school classroom disappear one night, never to be seen again. It is then discovered via cameras placed around the town that all of the kids left their houses voluntarily, at the exact same time and all headed in the same direction, but their destination was unknown. Once the kids disappearance is discovered, all suspicion falls on the children's teacher, since she is the only thing all the kids have in common, and as such, the town turns on her quickly. As I said, this is such a fantastic set-up, and Cregger immediately hooks his audience in, who want to know the secret to the mystery of just what happened to those kids. He then goes a step further and tells his story through different people's points-of-view, so we are witness to certain scenes replaying, but from a different vantage point and with the extra information each person has of that moment who we are following. Again, this is an excellent way to tell the story, and something that I really love in movies, as I really enjoy watching the same scene play out from alternate angles. It is quite unique to see it played out in a horror movie though, but is something that happens more often in normal, dramatic films, with one good example being a scene in Quentin Tarantino's “Jackie Brown”.
The film is very well acted (Julia Garner, Josh Brolin and Amy Madigan are all excellent), and the characters are intriguing and interesting to be around. The film begins to falter though when it comes to the big reveal, as it does not live up to the lead up at all. It is actually something of a let-down when we find out the truth behind the disappearances and what is behind it all. You kind of sigh, and go “oh. Is that it?”. To be honest, it then starts to get more than a little silly from this point on, with Cregger often falling back on comedic elements which totally cuts the tension of the horror he has created. Cregger has a comedy background, so I understand why he might want to include some laughs in his film, but it totally ruins the atmosphere and mystery he built up during the first half of the film. Whilst I was a fan of his fractured narrative, I also think Cregger went too far with it, by showcasing the points-of-views of too many characters, and I felt like he should have streamlined his film by cutting at least one of them from his film to reduce it's running time, which at over two hours is very long for a horror film. The other odd thing about the reveal that I want to mention is the way that the information is delivered to the audience, which I also thought worked against the film, as Cregger essentially at a point in the film, just tells us what is going on, rather than us follow the clues as the characters themselves are working it out, so both we as an audience and the characters in the film find out at the exact same time, to give us all an “Oh Shit!” moment. Instead, Cregger lets us know before the characters themselves, which again undercuts the horror of the big reveal.
Whilst I think that the second half of the film is much less successful than the first, to the point that it begins to become a little goofy, I will say that Cregger has created some seriously disturbing images within “Weapons” that border on nightmare fuel. One image of Amy Madigan lying in a bed, eyes wide open, lipstick all distorted, I thought was brilliantly shocking, and this is just one of many images that are bound to disturb fans of the film.
It might seem from the above that I didn't really like “Weapons” at all, but that is not true; I actually had a really good time with the film, but that still doesn't stop me from thinking that it has been massively overrated. If for nothing else, after seeing “Weapons”, I have since had a ball at running towards my horror-loving daughter with my arms out (mirroring the kids in the film), which always creeps her out!
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