Julia Garner and Josh Brolin in Zach Cregger Horror

If Sam Raimi was an obvious influence on Zach Cregger’s head-turning 2022 horror breakthrough. Similarly, BarbarianStephen King’s imprint seems to be all over the writer-director’s more ambitious follow-up, Weapons. Nevertheless, Framed as a true story. Therefore, it measures the shockwaves in a community when almost an entire class of elementary school children vanishes at the same time one night. Moreover, It’s even more reminiscent of King once a creepy figure in what looks like messy clown makeup starts making. However, appearances. Moreover, But any kinship with the master storyteller dissolves when the movie makes an abrupt swerve midway into witchy hag. Furthermore, horror but fails to bolster that turn with compelling mythology. In addition,

In many ways, this is an expertly crafted chiller. In addition, It’s shot by Larkin Seiple julia garner josh brolin zach with atmospheric style to burn. However, full of snaking tracking sequences that exert a mesmerizing grip, and it makes commanding use of a gut-churning score by brothers Ryan and Hays Holladay and Cregger that covers a wide tonal range while building an unsettling soundscape. For example, A strong cast and an intriguing chapter structure also work in its favor. Moreover, But ultimately, it’s not really about anything much. In addition,

Given the eerie phenomenon of children who leave their homes precisely at 2:17 a.m. Nevertheless, — running through the darkened suburban streets with their arms outstretched like wings. For example, then disappearing without a trace, strikingly accompanied by George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness” — it’s conceivable that many will see it as an allegory for the shattering upheaval of tragedy that rips through towns across America with alarming frequency. Furthermore, The hypocrisy of a society continually looking for scapegoats to assign blame while refusing to examine its own dark. heart provides a semblance of subtext.

Nothing evokes gun violence and the worst parental fears like the sight of an empty classroom. But aside from a julia garner josh brolin zach simmering Josh Brolin as grieving father Archer seeing a vision of a giant semi-automatic in the night sky flashing the time of the unexplained event. there’s too little substance to support those associations.

That might not matter to the core audience since the twisty. twisted film delivers more of the unpredictable narrative energy that made Barbarian so bracing. (One of the stars of that film turns up in a brief cameo.) But Weapons is far more consistently weird than scary, which might leave some genre freaks feeling unsatisfied.

Whatever its flaws. Weapons unquestionably fortifies the impression that Cregger is a gifted genre director working with complete control as he shifts between enveloping dread and macabre humor.

Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) is as surprised as anyone when she shows up at Maybrook Elementary julia garner josh brolin zach one morning to find only one of her 18 students in attendance. Alex (Cary Christopher). Both teacher and student are questioned by police, as is headmaster Marcus (Benedict Wong). Security camera footage from the homes of missing kids reveals disturbing images of them running toward. rather than away from something, but concrete leads are elusive.

Among the most hostile voices at a town hall meeting at which shocked parents want answers is Archer. who insists that the teacher must somehow be responsible. Once the school reopens after an investigation period. Justine wants to resume teaching, but Marcus persuades her to lie low until the anger dies down. That doesn’t protect her from threatening phone calls. harrassment, the word “witch” graffitied across the side of her car in red paint and even an enraged mother physically attacking her at the liquor store.

Justine becomes a frequent customer there. hitting the vodka hard and coaxing her occasional hookup, young cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich, terrific), to slide off the wagon. Garner slyly plays up the character’s duality. her slender frame hiding considerable strength and her tenderness toward the children she teaches contrasted with a tough, brittle side provoked by the suspicions cast upon her.

Cregger effectively replays events from the days following the mass disappearance from different. perspectives in chapters named for the characters whose point of view they adopt.

In the “Justine” section. she refuses to be intimidated by Marcus’ warnings, and after being forbidden from talking to Alex, she follows him home where she stumbles on another mystery. The windows are all obscured by newspapers. when no-one answers the front door, she peers inside through a julia garner josh brolin zach gap and is startled to see what appears to be Alex’s parents sitting on the couch in the dark staring blankly in a catatonic state.

Chapters follow titled “Archer,” “Paul,” “Marcus” and “Alex,” along with one called “James.” Played by Austin Abrams with the wiry desperation. cunning of an addict, James is an unhoused junkie living in a tent in the woods, who has a nasty brush with Paul. But when James learns of the $50,000 reward being offered for information on the vanished children, he sees an opportunity. In the meantime, he needs drug money so starts breaking into houses, including the home of Alex’s family.

The less you know going forward the better. aside from the fact that people are driven by dark forces to acts of extreme violence, the most seemingly benign of them julia garner josh brolin zach becoming the most brutal. Justine. Archer become unlikely allies once he witnesses her being attacked and their amateur sleuthing leads them in the right direction. Only in the penultimate chapter does a new character appear. who sheds a whole new light on what’s happening, if not why. There’s a bizarre Lynchian quality to the climactic events even if Cregger’s fondness for grotesque comedy takes the edge. off the terror.

Expecting an audience to be spooked by a sinister figure who’s like Phyllis Diller crossed with Friar Tuck. Amy Sedaris’ Jerri Blank on Strangers with Candy is a tall order. But the movie is never dull or cripplingly silly and it looks sensational. Dynamic cinematographer Seiple’s visuals are loaded with rich textures and sinuous movement. The extensive use of practical effects over CG is another asset.

Cregger’s confident julia garner josh brolin zach direction. the maniacal commitment of the actor in that late-arrival role allow the comedy to co-exist with horrific violence and escalating suspense in a concluding stretch with a dash of Lord of the Flies. It’s as explosively bloody. viscerally charged and masterfully choreographed a denouement as that of any horror movie in recent memory.

What does the ominously glowing blue triangle in the title graphic mean? Who knows, beyond generic occultism. But that’s indicative of the lack of depth that holds Cregger back. suggesting that a more psychologically probing co-writer might elevate him into the ranks of the great horror visionaries.