The real truth? This intelligent horror movie has a super cast

The Advertiser

4 days ago

Weapons
(MA15+, 128 minutes)
4 stars
This is, we're told, a true story. One day at 2.17am in the town of Maybrook, all but one of the 18 children in the same primary school class got out of their beds at the same time, ran outside and disappeared.
Writer-director Zach Cregger's Barbarian (2022) was a well-made, original and high-quality horror thriller. Now Cregger is back with Weapons, which has similar virtues. It's intelligent and skilfully crafted on a modest budget by Hollywood standards, reportedly $US38 million ($A58 million).
There's more to the movie than violence and gore - though they're there - with a well created feeling of community and ordinary lives somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King (compliment intended).
The film is labelled "a true story" by an unknown child in voiceover who sets up the action, making it seem like an urban legend is about to be told.
Weapons unfolds as a series of interlocking chapters. Cregger does a good job at bringing to life a town rocked by a terrible event.
Investigations into the disappearance go nowhere and the community is, understandably, shocked, baffled and outraged. The boy who didn't vanish, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) can shed no light on what happened to his classmates and suspicion falls on their teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner, so impressive in Ozark).
There's no evidence against Justine but she's a convenient scapegoat: she has no children of her own, is known to like a drink, and has overstepped boundaries with pupils (like putting a comforting hand on one kid and driving another home - scandalous stuff).
Justine wants to know what's going on as much as anyone but her efforts are met with reprimands from her principal, Andrew Marcus (prolific British actor Benedict Wong), who places her on paid leave, and her not quite ex, police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich from Hail, Caesar!, a versatile actor I always enjoy watching).
While Paul is trying to keep his affair secret from his wife, Donna (June Diane Raphael from Grace and Frankie) he has repeated run-ins with a homeless burglar, James (Austin Abrams from Euphoria), who pawns stolen goods to feed his drug habit. Paul's actions start to perturb his captain, Ed Locke (Toby Huss), who also happens to be his father-in-law.
There are other characters, including Archer Graff (the always impressive James Brolin), the father of one of the boys who vanished. Whitmer Thomas and Callie Schutterra play Alex's parents and Amy Madigan is memorable as the boy's aunt. In fact, there's not a weak link in the cast.
Cregger's methods to create tension and scares are many and varied. There are stock devices like jump-scare nightmares, ending with, yes, someone suddenly sitting bolt upright in bed (do people actually do that?). More effective are the shots - some quick, some shot in near darkness or from a distance - where there's something scary that's not entirely or clearly seen. Even subtler are the closed doors that prick the imagination: what's going on behind them?
But there are also the thumping shocks and gross-outs when things turn violent, which are also effectively staged.
There's an unidentified child (Scarlett Sher) who tops and tails the film with voiceovers. They're atmospheric but the first, setting up the story, feels too long - more show, less tell might have worked a little better - while the last lacks the payoff that would give it real impact. Who is this kid, anyway?
Minor nitpicks aside, this is highly recommended for those who feel like an intelligent horror movie aimed at an audience other than thrill-seeking teenagers.
Weapons
(MA15+, 128 minutes)
4 stars
This is, we're told, a true story. One day at 2.17am in the town of Maybrook, all but one of the 18 children in the same primary school class got out of their beds at the same time, ran outside and disappeared.
Writer-director Zach Cregger's Barbarian (2022) was a well-made, original and high-quality horror thriller. Now Cregger is back with Weapons, which has similar virtues. It's intelligent and skilfully crafted on a modest budget by Hollywood standards, reportedly $US38 million ($A58 million).
There's more to the movie than violence and gore - though they're there - with a well created feeling of community and ordinary lives somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King (compliment intended).
The film is labelled "a true story" by an unknown child in voiceover who sets up the action, making it seem like an urban legend is about to be told.
Weapons unfolds as a series of interlocking chapters. Cregger does a good job at bringing to life a town rocked by a terrible event.
Investigations into the disappearance go nowhere and the community is, understandably, shocked, baffled and outraged. The boy who didn't vanish, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) can shed no light on what happened to his classmates and suspicion falls on their teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner, so impressive in Ozark).
There's no evidence against Justine but she's a convenient scapegoat: she has no children of her own, is known to like a drink, and has overstepped boundaries with pupils (like putting a comforting hand on one kid and driving another home - scandalous stuff).
Justine wants to know what's going on as much as anyone but her efforts are met with reprimands from her principal, Andrew Marcus (prolific British actor Benedict Wong), who places her on paid leave, and her not quite ex, police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich from Hail, Caesar!, a versatile actor I always enjoy watching).
While Paul is trying to keep his affair secret from his wife, Donna (June Diane Raphael from Grace and Frankie) he has repeated run-ins with a homeless burglar, James (Austin Abrams from Euphoria), who pawns stolen goods to feed his drug habit. Paul's actions start to perturb his captain, Ed Locke (Toby Huss), who also happens to be his father-in-law.
There are other characters, including Archer Graff (the always impressive James Brolin), the father of one of the boys who vanished. Whitmer Thomas and Callie Schutterra play Alex's parents and Amy Madigan is memorable as the boy's aunt. In fact, there's not a weak link in the cast.
Cregger's methods to create tension and scares are many and varied. There are stock devices like jump-scare nightmares, ending with, yes, someone suddenly sitting bolt upright in bed (do people actually do that?). More effective are the shots - some quick, some shot in near darkness or from a distance - where there's something scary that's not entirely or clearly seen. Even subtler are the closed doors that prick the imagination: what's going on behind them?
But there are also the thumping shocks and gross-outs when things turn violent, which are also effectively staged.
There's an unidentified child (Scarlett Sher) who tops and tails the film with voiceovers. They're atmospheric but the first, setting up the story, feels too long - more show, less tell might have worked a little better - while the last lacks the payoff that would give it real impact. Who is this kid, anyway?
Minor nitpicks aside, this is highly recommended for those who feel like an intelligent horror movie aimed at an audience other than thrill-seeking teenagers.
Weapons
(MA15+, 128 minutes)
4 stars
This is, we're told, a true story. One day at 2.17am in the town of Maybrook, all but one of the 18 children in the same primary school class got out of their beds at the same time, ran outside and disappeared.
Writer-director Zach Cregger's Barbarian (2022) was a well-made, original and high-quality horror thriller. Now Cregger is back with Weapons, which has similar virtues. It's intelligent and skilfully crafted on a modest budget by Hollywood standards, reportedly $US38 million ($A58 million).
There's more to the movie than violence and gore - though they're there - with a well created feeling of community and ordinary lives somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King (compliment intended).
The film is labelled "a true story" by an unknown child in voiceover who sets up the action, making it seem like an urban legend is about to be told.
Weapons unfolds as a series of interlocking chapters. Cregger does a good job at bringing to life a town rocked by a terrible event.
Investigations into the disappearance go nowhere and the community is, understandably, shocked, baffled and outraged. The boy who didn't vanish, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) can shed no light on what happened to his classmates and suspicion falls on their teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner, so impressive in Ozark).
There's no evidence against Justine but she's a convenient scapegoat: she has no children of her own, is known to like a drink, and has overstepped boundaries with pupils (like putting a comforting hand on one kid and driving another home - scandalous stuff).
Justine wants to know what's going on as much as anyone but her efforts are met with reprimands from her principal, Andrew Marcus (prolific British actor Benedict Wong), who places her on paid leave, and her not quite ex, police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich from Hail, Caesar!, a versatile actor I always enjoy watching).
While Paul is trying to keep his affair secret from his wife, Donna (June Diane Raphael from Grace and Frankie) he has repeated run-ins with a homeless burglar, James (Austin Abrams from Euphoria), who pawns stolen goods to feed his drug habit. Paul's actions start to perturb his captain, Ed Locke (Toby Huss), who also happens to be his father-in-law.
There are other characters, including Archer Graff (the always impressive James Brolin), the father of one of the boys who vanished. Whitmer Thomas and Callie Schutterra play Alex's parents and Amy Madigan is memorable as the boy's aunt. In fact, there's not a weak link in the cast.
Cregger's methods to create tension and scares are many and varied. There are stock devices like jump-scare nightmares, ending with, yes, someone suddenly sitting bolt upright in bed (do people actually do that?). More effective are the shots - some quick, some shot in near darkness or from a distance - where there's something scary that's not entirely or clearly seen. Even subtler are the closed doors that prick the imagination: what's going on behind them?
But there are also the thumping shocks and gross-outs when things turn violent, which are also effectively staged.
There's an unidentified child (Scarlett Sher) who tops and tails the film with voiceovers. They're atmospheric but the first, setting up the story, feels too long - more show, less tell might have worked a little better - while the last lacks the payoff that would give it real impact. Who is this kid, anyway?
Minor nitpicks aside, this is highly recommended for those who feel like an intelligent horror movie aimed at an audience other than thrill-seeking teenagers.
Weapons
(MA15+, 128 minutes)
4 stars
This is, we're told, a true story. One day at 2.17am in the town of Maybrook, all but one of the 18 children in the same primary school class got out of their beds at the same time, ran outside and disappeared.
Writer-director Zach Cregger's Barbarian (2022) was a well-made, original and high-quality horror thriller. Now Cregger is back with Weapons, which has similar virtues. It's intelligent and skilfully crafted on a modest budget by Hollywood standards, reportedly $US38 million ($A58 million).
There's more to the movie than violence and gore - though they're there - with a well created feeling of community and ordinary lives somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King (compliment intended).
The film is labelled "a true story" by an unknown child in voiceover who sets up the action, making it seem like an urban legend is about to be told.
Weapons unfolds as a series of interlocking chapters. Cregger does a good job at bringing to life a town rocked by a terrible event.
Investigations into the disappearance go nowhere and the community is, understandably, shocked, baffled and outraged. The boy who didn't vanish, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) can shed no light on what happened to his classmates and suspicion falls on their teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner, so impressive in Ozark).
There's no evidence against Justine but she's a convenient scapegoat: she has no children of her own, is known to like a drink, and has overstepped boundaries with pupils (like putting a comforting hand on one kid and driving another home - scandalous stuff).
Justine wants to know what's going on as much as anyone but her efforts are met with reprimands from her principal, Andrew Marcus (prolific British actor Benedict Wong), who places her on paid leave, and her not quite ex, police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich from Hail, Caesar!, a versatile actor I always enjoy watching).
While Paul is trying to keep his affair secret from his wife, Donna (June Diane Raphael from Grace and Frankie) he has repeated run-ins with a homeless burglar, James (Austin Abrams from Euphoria), who pawns stolen goods to feed his drug habit. Paul's actions start to perturb his captain, Ed Locke (Toby Huss), who also happens to be his father-in-law.
There are other characters, including Archer Graff (the always impressive James Brolin), the father of one of the boys who vanished. Whitmer Thomas and Callie Schutterra play Alex's parents and Amy Madigan is memorable as the boy's aunt. In fact, there's not a weak link in the cast.
Cregger's methods to create tension and scares are many and varied. There are stock devices like jump-scare nightmares, ending with, yes, someone suddenly sitting bolt upright in bed (do people actually do that?). More effective are the shots - some quick, some shot in near darkness or from a distance - where there's something scary that's not entirely or clearly seen. Even subtler are the closed doors that prick the imagination: what's going on behind them?
But there are also the thumping shocks and gross-outs when things turn violent, which are also effectively staged.
There's an unidentified child (Scarlett Sher) who tops and tails the film with voiceovers. They're atmospheric but the first, setting up the story, feels too long - more show, less tell might have worked a little better - while the last lacks the payoff that would give it real impact. Who is this kid, anyway?
Minor nitpicks aside, this is highly recommended for those who feel like an intelligent horror movie aimed at an audience other than thrill-seeking teenagers.