Weapons

As you may recall, I skipped out on Companion when it opened earlier this year. That film's producer, Zach Cregger, is back already with Weapons, which he wrote, directed, produced and co-composed the moody score with the Holladay Brothers. I didn't skip that one.

One morning, at Maybrook Elementary School, Mrs. Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) walked into her third-grade class, and found only one student, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher). Hours earlier, at 2:17 am, the rest of the class all ran out into the night. Naturally, most of the adults have questions, and they think the mousy Justine has all the answers. A month later, Principal Marcus Miller (Benedict Wong) places Justine on leave, partially for her own protection. An unseen stalker harasses her at one point, while a creepy clown lady haunts her dreams. She soon turns to alcohol ...

Meanwhile, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), the father of one of the missing kids, starts sleuthing around. He eventually realizes the kids may have all been running in the same direction. Justine, meanwhile, notices Alex has been acting strangely for a while. It seems Alex knows a lot more than what he's telling the police. It seems that someone, or something, is behind it all. Justine and Archer team-up to get the answers.

The screenplay is divided into six chapters, each with a different main character. Besides the aforementioned, we also get chapters for Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), a police officer and James (Austin Abrams), an inept burglar. Throughout it all, certain events play out at least twice, while each chapter is usually capped off by an enticing cliffhanger. Each shocking turn sits with you while the mystery unfolds over the course of 128-minutes. It's a fun experience, even if I'm a bit bemused not all aspects were explained by the credits. No, I don't mean some of the supernatural stuff, I mean some of the mundane stuff. But that's just me.

The film also arms itself with a great cast. Justine quickly levels-up in assertiveness to cope with the madness but never loses her audience likability. She tries to check on Alex's well-being, despite rules on decorum, so there's that. Archer, meanwhile, is quite compelling as he manages his grief, even in misdirected ways. I almost thought Brolin would have the best acted scene in the movie, where Archer lets out his insecurities in a nightmare scene. That was before the film brought along its big bad, Gladys (Amy Madigan), who owned every single second of her screentime. Alex, meanwhile, is quite compelling once we realize him as the true hero of the piece.

Did you know that it's also pretty funny? Paul and James's animosity is played up more like a one-sided sitcom rivalry than a serious police procedural. By that, I mean that it's mainly due to Paul's bad luck and ineptitude. It's pretty good comic relief, which is made sillier when James almost becomes the accidental hero. Further levity is provided by Marcus and his husband, Terry's (Clayton Farris) happy home life, until Gladys comes calling. Marcus makes for a reasonable and likable authority figure, which makes his fate rather disturbing. But the film sometimes plays its scares for ridiculousness. It makes it enjoyable, in more ways than one, when Gladys is finally defeated.

What else do we have here? Whether they're being serious or silly, the film's scariest moments are constructed perfectly by editor Joe Murphy. You'll be on edge as Justine is harassed by the stalker, whose identity is all but spelt out a while later. The cinematographer, Larkin Seiple, gives us some wonderfully eerie visuals, the best of which come when he leaves the camera running. These moments are perfectly accentuated by the aforementioned score, as well as a pristine sound design. I must also take time to highlight the makeup team for their hard work in evolving Gladys and devolving her possessed victims. I might have said too much already.

Weapons' spectacular use of selective omission and overall craziness makes it a unique horror film. If anything, Gladys might be one of the best new horror villains ever. I struggled to avoid giving too much away when I wrote this review. So, I'll just leave it to you to see it all for yourself. I was impressed with what I saw, and I think you might be too. 

That's it for now.