Weapons

⭐ 9/10

Wow. This movie was awesome. I remember seeing the trailer for this movie and I was immediately skeptical. It came across like a schlocky, hammed up Blumhouse-esk horror ride filled with cheap jump scares and shallow characters. BOY was I wrong. The story is deep, the characters are so well developed, the story is super unique and this movie is legitimately terrifying.

I don't want to go through the story too much because I don't want to spoil anything, but in short, a class room of kids go missing, all except one that is, and the town obviously goes into turmoil. The first person the citizens blame is the teacher of that classroom, but this quickly falls through as a dad of one of the missing children begins to investigate the disappearances himself. The mystery thickens when the enigmatic Gladys (aunt of the single remaining student) gets involved. While this is happening, a good cop makes some bad decisions and ends up getting twisted up in this sinister plot. How is he involved? What happened to the kids? Who is Gladys? Why just one classroom? All questions that can be answered by watching the movie.

This movie is able to respectfully handle some really hard themes in a way that feels human even amongst the supernatural elements. Themes of child neglect, drug addiction, the role of a teacher in the life of a student, all amplify the horror of the situation these townspeople find themselves in. There are also some, not so subtle, parallels to school shootings that is shown in the grief experienced by the parents... and also in the title... weapons.

There was a lot that I loved about this movie. The actors in this movie are insanely good. Amy Madigan delivers an incredibly twisted and vibrant performance as the main antagonist, Gladys. Her ability to bring this character to life is genuinely mesmerizing to watch. Josh Brolin delivers a grounded and painful performance of a grieving father looking for answers in the midst of his child going missing. Julia Garner portrays the wrongly accused teacher and does an amazing job portraying the lonely grief that her character must be feeling as she loses not just her students, but her job, and her reputation. But Benedict Wong brings probably my favourite performance as the principle of the school. He is a kind, and understanding boss, a loving and involved principle, and all around just a kind soul... that is until his.....transformation. Yeah, let's call it a transformation. Once that happens, his performance goes from great, to unreal (in a good way). There are other great performances too, from Austin Abrams who perfectly plays a meth addicted homeless man, and Alden Ehrenreich as a down on his luck good cop. 

Visually, this movie looks great too. Beautiful shots, well placed horror scenes, just really well done cinematography wise. The pacing of this movie is also totally perfect. I couldn't get over how well timed everything felt. Nothing felt rushed, nothing felt like an after thought, this movie felt meticulously put together. Really well done.

But like almost all good things, there were somethings that I didn't like. Probably the biggest annoyance I had was the sheer amount of product placement in this movie. Most of it was noticeable but harmless, but there were some borderline egregious product placement in this movie. Specifically for Coca - Cola, and pretty much every single car brand. I don't mind a bit of product placement, y'all gotta get your money I get it, but a prolonged close up of the nutritional guide on a can of coke is a bit much. This movie also starts and ends in a way that I personally find annoying. It starts with a disembodied narration from a child, and ends the same way. We never get to know who this child is or why they know the events of this story, and for me personally, disconnected narration just seemed like a lazy way to do some exposition.

All in all, great movie, genuinely scary, unique, but also classic in a way. I highly recommend this movie.