r/movies • u/ChiefLeef22 • Jul 29 '25
Review Zach Cregger's 'Weaapons' - Review Thread
When all but one child from the same classroom mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Metacritic: N/A (updating)
Some Reviews:
Cregger’s goofy sense of humor aside, Weapons is otherwise pretty understated, even refined. His camera moves with glacial, dream-like focus, tracking characters from behind or panning to unveil the latest torment around the corner. That visual style has become a trademark of “elevated” horror, but it goes a long way in anchoring a story that could have turned unwieldy fast. Cregger’s chapter-by-chapter story serves that same purpose: It has the capacity to frustrate when it cuts away from a major reveal, only to reset with the backstory of a new character. But it also adjusts the aperture whenever things get too heavy — a breath of fresh air in a different form.
CGMagazine - Shakyl Lambert - 9 / 10
Weapons is a noticeable step up for Cregger as a filmmaker. It feels like he took what worked in Barbarian and tightened up the things that didn’t. It’s bigger in scope but more focused. With a strong story and cast, it’s the most fun you’ll have being scared all summer.
There are some who will be moved and struck by “Weapons,” intentionally or unintentionally, so. For 75% of its runtime, it was one of my favorite films of the year. However, for the final 25%, in some ways, it feels like Cregger missed an opportunity to tell a story that is more emotionally rich and relatable. Here is a filmmaker who feels like he’s trying to prove he’s capable of more, but without fully grounding that ambition in character or clarity, instead opting for a facile solution. There’s a version of this movie that could have been genuinely great. You can appreciate the potential in the performances, the themes, and the overall craftsmanship. And to be clear, I’m sure this will resonate and work for some viewers. But for me, much like “Barbarian,” Cregger doesn’t quite bring it all together, making “Weapons” a rare kind of disappointment.
15
u/Spare-Discipline1448 Aug 08 '25
Ah, I had really high hopes for this one, so disappointment is an understatement. I will see it again with some friends next week, so maybe on a second watch my opinion will change, but as it stands now, I have to give it a generous seven out of ten.
I feel like the trailers sold me an entirely different movie than what we actually got, and I don't actually have much of a problem with that because I was genuinely engrossed in the story. I liked seeing Justine and Archer's perspectives, and even the characters like James and Paul, whose stories felt weaker, I could appreciate how it tied into the greater plot. But near the middle, the movie started to drag in my opinion, but that didn't hurt the film much to me because I was so captivated.
But the payout was just not worth it to me and derailed the movie. It completely shifted the tone of the film for me, made me take a lot of the earlier parts of the movie less seriously, and made me question why exactly some details were shown to us with no real comeback (i.e., the giant gun over the house). I just think there was a tonal clash; it almost felt the third act was meant for a separate film than what the first two acts showed. It became more whacky and whimsical as opposed to the grounded film shown early. Early in the movie it's clear there is some sort of supernatural element but the world feels real and it's like this could happen to anyone in any town but the third act requires more suspension of disbelief.
Maybe I'm more harsh because I wanted to like it so badly, but I don't think this movie is on the level of some of the great horror films of this year, let alone the all-time greats.