Chante JVR

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis:

In the quiet Midwestern town of Maybrook, 17 third-graders vanish at exactly 2:17 a.m. with only one child remaining behind. Told through six interlocking perspectives, including a grief-stricken father (Josh Brolin), the tormented teacher (Julia Garner), a cop, a junkie, a school principal, and the lone child, Alex, this horror-thriller unspools as a fragmented mystery. The truth? Dark, supernatural, and rooted in grief.

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What Works:

🧒🏻Ensemble Cast Excellence: Julia Garner and Josh Brolin deliver raw, emotionally gripping performances, anchoring the film’s tense emotional core. From Alden Ehrenreich to Amy Madigan, each actor brings depth even in brief segments.
🧒🏻Atmospheric Direction: Cregger’s fractured narrative builds tension masterfully, blending suburban dread with surreal body horror and dark humour. His visual language of tracking shots, surreal symbolism, and eerie silence is uncanny, reminiscent of one of Cregger’s own favourite horror movies, The Shining. He also once again shows his love for older women in this one.
🧒🏻Bold Storytelling: The interconnected, non-linear structure brings depth and suspense, following characters whose stories ripple into one another like splashes in a puddle and slowly gives the audience new information while challenging what they thought they already knew.
🧒🏻Haunting Themes: With echoes of school tragedies and folklore, the film conjures visceral unease without obvious commentary, while addressing grief, trauma, and societal paranoia.

What Doesn’t Work:

🏃🏻‍♀️Uneven Narrative: The shifting perspectives sometimes disrupt emotional continuity, leaving the film feeling emotionally distant.
🏃🏻‍♀️Underwhelming Resolution: The third act’s supernatural reveal and the motivations of the antagonist, Gladys feel vague, unsatisfying, and a little Mother Gothel-esque, making the payoff less impactful.

Final Thoughts:

Weapons is an unnerving, genre-defying horror experience that is part psychological mystery, part suburban nightmare. It’s brutal, often surreal, sometimes darkly funny (as Cregger’s known to be) and always unsettling in the best way. While the emotional threads don’t fully hold, the film’s originality, craftsmanship, and fearless vision make it a standout of 2025 horror.