In the wake of his 2022 “Barbarian,” which proved writer-director Zach Cregger’s fiendish skill with scarifying darkness enveloping a plot that goes this-a-way and that-a-way, the filmmaker has now given us “Weapons,” and it’s really good.
Well. Maybe not all the way through. Some of Cregger’s swings between straight-up horror, missing children mystery and deliriously gory comedy may lead to mass audience whiplash. But it’s pretty gripping, fiercely well-acted and — paradoxically, given its devotion to pitch-black cold creeps — one of the bright lights of a generally disappointing movie summer.
The story premise sounds like Stephen King or M. Night Shyamalan material, though Cregger has cited Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling wonder “Magnolia” as a chief inspiration. In the town of Maybrook, a terrible thing happened not long ago, the young narrator tells us. Seventeen students from schoolteacher Justine Gandy’s third-grade class left their beds and their homes at 2:17 a.m. one night, running, arms outstretched, to a destination and a fate unknown.
One student was spared: quiet, sadly bullied Alex (Cary Christopher). The enraged, grieving parents of the missing kids brand Justine a pariah. Does the educator know more than she’s letting on? Is Alex’s visiting aunt, a grinning, unsettling sight to behold played beautifully by Amy Madigan, merely looking after Alex while his parents are ailing, or is there another story?
It is no spoiler to say “Weapons” is hiding, and then revealing, many other stories somewhere in the framework of Cregger’s screenplay. The core mystery, the whereabouts of the missing children, is going nowhere with the local police. Justine starts doing a little detective work herself, as does construction manager Archer (Josh Brolin), father of one of the lost boys.
Without sacrificing his narrative’s trackability, Cregger breaks the story into separate chapters named for key characters, including a thieving junkie (Austin Abrams) who runs afoul of a police officer (Alden Ehrenreich) tangled up in Julia’s past (they were lovers) as well as her present. These chapters begin as flashbacks to an earlier point in the storyline, then bring “Weapons” forward so we’re pulled in the right direction, for the next reveal or development.
I’ll keep this cryptic, but by the climax of “Weapons,” Cregger has switched genres entirely. Some will go for it, some won’t, but the preview audience the other night was audibly thrilled with the change-up, however grisly in its literal bursts of comically extreme action. Cregger’s tricky, artfully braided storyline may decentralize its central characters, and to some degree, its very fine performances, sacrificing some dimension for the sake of the overall contraption. The contraption, however, is adroitly constructed, with little interest in backstory or explanations we don’t need.
What we need is horror with some wit and visual assurance. And that, we have right here.
“Weapons” — 3 stars (out of 4)
MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence and grisly images, language throughout, some sexual content and drug use)
Running time: 2:08
How to watch: Premieres in theaters Aug. 7
Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
