I legitimately cannot stop thinking about Zach Cregger’s Weapons. Just last night, the Woolies cashier putting my cage-free eggs into a paper bag had pale blonde curls; an iridescent ruby pair of glasses sitting on her nose as she monotonously beeped each item one by one. Woah, she looks exactly like Julia Garner in Weapons, I thought. The other week, a group of tireless school children dashed across the sidewalk I was strolling by. Haha that kid runs weird HOLY SHIT JUST LIKE IN WEAPONS. In the middle of a sleep paralysis episode, I caught a humanoid-shaped pile of laundry in my periphery tha- OHMYGODLIKEINWEAPONSIMGONNADIE. If I sound a little bit insane and unreasonably paranoid, that’s because Weapons left that much of an impact on me—a suspenseful masterclass in horror, and hands down one of the best films of 2025 thus far.

Cregger launched his directorial career in horror films with Barbarian back in 2022, a story that unraveled around an Airbnb housing an abomination in its basement. The film introduced the world to Cregger’s pervasive style upon release: a kitschy comedy-horror fusion with a disjointed narrative separated into different parts and perspectives of different characters. There was not a single equally shared sentiment between critics and casual viewers; some thought the stylistic lean towards comedy was campy fun. Others thought it aimed high but its ambitious attempt didn’t quite stick the landing. Its eerie, slow opening had audiences expecting your run-of-the-mill horror flick, but when the tone slowly shifted into a bizarre comedy-infused direction by the end, it was evident Cregger’s style wasn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Me? I loved every minute of it.

So, when I’d heard Weapons was in the making, and that Jordan Peele himself had unceremoniously fired his team for failing to acquire the rights to the script, excitement was a severe understatement. As a self-admitted aficionado for gore, violence and anything that would require a certified R rating from the Motion Picture Association, Weapons is anything but mild. It’s frightening. It’s bloody. It’s hilarious. It’s heartwarming (sometimes). It’s exceptionally entertaining. It’s stylistically in your face and takes pride in doing so with every unexpected jumpscare that doesn’t feel cheap in the slightest.

The film opens with the voice of a young girl recounting the events of the film as a needle drop blasting George Harrison’s sombre “Beware of Darkness” plays throughout the introduction and title card. The acoustic guitar strumming sets a slow and menacing tone for the rest of the running time, further fueling the mystery in Maybrook that’s had everyone scratching their heads: how did 17 children from Justine Gandy’s class (Julia Garner) go missing in one single night? Each character is given a fair amount of time to shine as it’s divided into 6 different character perspectives in 6 chapters. The story is disjointed at first and the constant switching of perspective gives you whiplash; but the more you watch and piece the narratives together, the more the story starts to make sense. It’s fantastic at keeping the viewers on the edge of their seats through its Clue-esque mystery. Perhaps a bit of a slog by the second act that’s padded with too many explanatory scenes and not enough scares or action, but the film as a whole feels incredibly rewarding when each of the character’s perspectives all come together like a one large puzzle and the story begins to flow fluently. How the characters fit into each other’s lives and the roles they play in connection to the missing children feels realistic and three-dimensional.

Cregger brings these characters to life and sprinkles in nuanced morals and decisions that although doesn’t make every character very likeable. Ms. Gandy dauntingly turns to alcohol and infidelity when the public backlash of having 17 of her students go missing is too much for her to bear; Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), a police officer, is determined to redeem his image after a string of mishaps on the job and a collapsing marriage. And my favourite character, James (Austin Abrams), is a homeless addict who sees a $50,000 reward for information about the missing children, and eyes an opportunity to hit it big with all the meth he could ask for. Abrams excels at comedic timing, bringing some of the slower-paced story arcs to much needed amusing beats.

When one watches a horror film, it’s easy to sit behind the screen and say things like “I would never do that.” or “Why would you run there?!” The world of Weapons is so devilishly brutal and mad that you have no choice but to ignore the flaws of these characters and root for them anyway. It also helps that the acting is tremendous on all sides; one of the surprising standouts being 10-year-old Cary Christopher, who played Alex with a degree of intensity one would least expect from a child actor. Julia Garner is also just as much of a star, and is quickly establishing herself as this generation’s scream queen.

One of the biggest strengths of Cregger’s style; Weapons doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s a scene where Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), a father whose son Matthew is one of the 17 missing children, has a nightmare concluding with one of the craziest jumpscares in the entire film. I, along with everybody else in the audience, flinch back in terror, and there’s a tense pause when Archer wakes up. He then proceeds to scream “WHAT THE FUCK?!”, resulting in our mutual fear erupting into roaring laughter. It’s self-aware moments like these that feels like it’s Cregger nodding along with the audience, as if he was sitting right beside you with an “I know right?” grin.

Hopefully by the time you reach this part, I’ve convinced you to go see it with a group of friends or in a jam-packed cinema even if you are squeamish. If I haven’t though: I’m not exaggerating when I proudly say that this is one of the most fun experiences I’ve had in a cinema. Not only has Cregger gone two for two so far, he’s very quickly shaping up to be one of the most unique visionaries in horror, and I cannot wait to see what else he is cooking up.