Dec 3

Dec 3 Zach Cregger’s “Weapons”

I don’t usually go in for horror films, but Weapons is uniquely entertaining. Its individual elements may feel familiar, yet the way they are combined—through superior performances, editing, photography, special effects, and music—creates a surprisingly coherent and engaging whole.

If possible, avoid watching it on a service with commercials, as I initially did with HBO Max’s ad-supported service. I ended up switching to screen mirroring from my iPhone via my own ad-free account to escape the interruptions.

The story components themselves are recognizable, but the way they’re assembled allows the film to shift seamlessly from fear to mystery to horror to laugh-out-loud humor and back again. I was especially impressed by how editing, photography, and camera movement elevate otherwise mundane moments into something surreal or memorable.

One example: watch the scene in which Julia Garner’s character enters a well-stocked liquor store. A Steadicam tracks her closely, shifting perspectives as she moves down the aisles. When the camera faces her, we see she’s being followed by someone who turns out to be the current wife of her current paramour. Adding to the fun, the wife is about as physically different from the slender Garner as one could imagine. In lesser hands, this might have been a pro forma or even dull confrontation. Here, it becomes a visually clever, comically charged vignette that adds yet another layer of evidence that director Cregger is only beginning to unleash the turmoil he plans for his characters.

No, Weapons is not a profound film. But I was continually surprised by its creative reinvention of what might, with a less imaginative director, have been a rather milquetoast mystery with supernatural elements. Instead, we get a steady stream of unexpected turns. That alone earns Weapons a place on my list of “movies I’d like to see again.”