Weapons Is a Merciless Masterclass in Fear

Weapons

★ ★ ★ ★

Weapons cuts to the core of our deepest parental fears. What would you do if you went to bed, confident you’d tucked your children safe and snug into their beds, and at exactly 2:17 A.M,. your child slipped out of bed, walked through the front door, and vanished into the darkness? This film expertly explores that fear, layered within a dark garden of deeply rooted themes. This movie will stick with you long after the credits roll.

I’ll be careful with my summary, because it’s too easy to accidentally drop in a spoiler or two. This film is best experienced raw, without forewarning. Justine (Julia Garner) teaches a class of 18 third-grade students at Maybrook Elementary School. One morning, she arrives to teach class and finds that 17 are absent. Alex (Cary Christopher) is the only student left in her class. For the next 30 days, the school is closed while authorities, teachers and parents try to find out what happened. No one can solve the mystery.

Cary Christopher as Alex
© 2025 New Line Cinema

What follows is how five individual characters experience the days that follow the school’s reopening. Their stories within these days often overlap but remain inherently different from one another. This storytelling tactic often collapses into gimmickry, but here it works on every level.

We follow Justine as she comes to grips with the missing kids from her class. She’s ostracized by the town with “witch” scrawled in red across her car door and death threats arriving daily. We follow Archer (Josh Brolin), a grieving father desperately trying to find his son. Paul (Alden Ehrenreich) is a married cop, and Justine’s ex-boyfriend, who tangles with James (Austin Abrams), the town junkie. James gets his own version of events and might be the most endearing, strung-out drug addict since Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in Breaking Bad. Finally, we follow Alex.

They ran out into the darkness
© 2025 New Line Cinema

All of the performances are top-notch, but it’s Amy Madigan’s Aunt Gladys—perhaps the most sinister horror villain in the last decade—that really stands out. Madigan has a long history of great supporting roles such as the wife who worries her husband has lost his mind in Field of Dreams, John Candy’s estranged girlfriend in Uncle Buck and her Academy Award nominated performance in Twice in a Lifetime. Her turn as Aunt Gladys is played with delightfully wicked precision. One minute she’s the frail, elderly aunt; the next, she’s lively, energetic—even friendly. Then—on a dime—a deadpan stare of evil sends chills down your spine. Aunt Gladys is not to be trifled with—she’s diabolically evil.

Weapons is the rare horror film that bridges the gap between horror fans and those who hate scary movies but still appreciate a good thriller. It belongs on the shelf between modern classics like The Sixth Sense and enduring legends like The Shining. In all cases, the movies are as much a character study as they are a lesson in fear, each with their own gripping premise. From “I see dead people” to “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” this film skillfully carves its own niche in cinematic horror history. It begins with a chilling line, whispered by a soft-spoken narrator (Scarlett Sher): “At 2:17 in the morning, every kid woke up, got out of bed, walked downstairs and into the dark. And they never came back.”

Everything in this film is carefully placed, from jump scares to scenes of intense brutality. Weapons is the complete package—an unflinching vision of horror that rattles you to the core and never lets go. It’s a masterclass in filmmaking, demanding to be remembered as one of the greats.