The new horror movie, Weapons, released recently. The movie comes from director Zach Cregger, the man behind one of 2022’s best horror films, Barbarian. How does his sophomore effort compare? Well… It’s pretty damn good. Weapons is a movie done right. To say this, it must mean there is a way to do a movie wrong, but perhaps “wrong” is not the right word. Instead, let’s say Weapons does just about everything to succeed.
The Story
When all but one child from the same classroom mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance. This is the first thing that makes this movie successful: The lack of the audience knowing too much. The movie already had a great trailer that put butts in seats. It told you that children disappeared, and that’s really it.
The movie does a good job of telling its story at a good pace. Every scene is filled with intrigue, and we are fed a little more information each time. The movie is broken up into sections. Each section shows us a different character and what they are dealing with from their point of view. We get just enough information to fill in the puzzle pieces before we go into the next section. Don’t worry, because everything comes together in the end. It is truly the equivalent of a book you can’t put down.
The Characters
The next thing that this movie does successfully is take time with its characters. The film is stacked with talent, including Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, Amy Madigan, and Alden Ehrenreich. Each of them has something to do, and they give it all they’ve got. The characters are flawed, but they are all somewhat relatable, and we, as the audience, want to see what happens next to them.
There are many different types of horror movies. Slashers, possession films, creature features, etc. A lot of the time, the horror movies that don’t do well stick to horror tropes many people have seen before and just lean hard into the genre. Jump scares galore and no one to root for or care about. This is sometimes okay, depending on the movie, but a lot of the time it can become stale. Weapons, on the other hand, puts its characters front and center. The movie is filled with numerous truly refreshing character developments. This is a movie where there is absolutely horror; it just comes second to storytelling and characters, and there is nothing wrong with that.
The Scares and Gore
From beginning to end, the movie is creepy. You always feel that something is very wrong, you just don’t know what. It doesn’t solely rely on jump scares or cheap gimmicks. The scares come from the decisions that characters make, as well as the audience letting their guards down while trying to solve this mystery.
There is plenty of crazy gore in this, but at the same time, it isn’t overdone. There are some wild things in here for sure, but when they happen, they are shocking and earned. Everything culminates in a gnarly ending that is probably the best horror movie ending of the year.
Overall
Weapons is one of the best horror movies of 2025 because it does everything really well. The story is intriguing, well written, and original. The characters are all interesting and well-developed, and the acting is in top form. It’s beautifully shot and filled with so much atmosphere. You can tell how much passion director Zach Cregger has, and he is one to keep looking out for in the future.
There are so many complaints that there are no more original movies out there. There are only remakes and sequels. That isn’t true. There are plenty of original movies out there. They either aren’t always marketed well, or people don’t go see them. Weapons has done very well at the box office so far, so maybe we are entering a shift.
Big budget movies such as Fantastic Four and Superman have underperformed to an extent. Are they good movies? Yes. But maybe, just maybe, some people are fatigued and want more original content to spend their hard-earned money on. Weapons is a great original horror film that is worth seeing and will hopefully pave the way for more original ideas going forward.
Weapons is now playing only in theatres.
