Weapons (2025): When Original Horror (Sort Of) Still Works
- Dan Brooks
- Aug 11
- 3 min read
When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
Every now and then, Hollywood remembers it can tell a new story. Weapons is one of those rare moments - an unsettling horror mystery that doesn’t spill its secrets in the trailer. No masked killer you saw coming in act one, no sequel-bait cliffhanger. Just a creeping dread that keeps pulling you forward, even when you’re not sure you want to know where it’s going.
The setup is as eerie as it is precise: in the small town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, 17 children from the same classroom vanish at exactly 2:17 a.m. Seventeen gone, one left behind. That number - and that time - become the film’s heartbeat. It’s a quiet, deliberate start, the kind that makes you pay attention to the clock as much as the shadows.
The cast is the real hook here. Julia Garner plays Ms. Justine Gandy, a teacher caught between guilt and suspicion. Josh Brolin is Archer Graff, a grieving father whose son, Matthew, is among the missing. Brolin delivers one of those performances that mixes toughness with vulnerability - he’s convincing whether he’s quietly breaking or ready to fight the world. Alden Ehrenreich rounds things out as Officer Paul Morgan, a cop wrestling with more than just the case in front of him.
Director Zach Cregger (yes, the guy from Barbarian) keeps the tension grounded in human reactions before letting the supernatural threads creep in. The film unfolds in multiple perspectives, each adding pieces to a puzzle you don’t fully see until the last act. And then there’s Gladys - Amy Madigan - whose kindly exterior hides something ancient and monstrous. Without spoiling too much, her connection to the disappearances ties into a horrific climax, a lot of screaming, and the kind of cathartic payback horror fans will appreciate.
There’s a lot here to like. First and foremost: it’s an original idea. In an industry that can’t go three weeks without announcing a remake, that’s worth something. The performances are solid across the board, with Brolin’s work standing out for its rawness. And the movie actually trusts its audience enough not to dump the whole plot in the trailer - a small miracle in 2025.
But it’s not perfect. The pacing drags in places. It’s a slow burn, and while that works for building atmosphere, there are stretches where it stalls instead of simmers. Some of the foreshadowing is clumsy - early hints about certain characters don’t pay off in ways that feel earned. Then there’s the gore. Horror can be brutal without being indulgent, but here a few scenes cross that line. It’s not constant, but when it happens, it’s the kind of thing that will stick with you for better or worse.
One choice I wasn’t on board with: breaking the tension with humor in ways that don’t serve the story. Horror and humor can work brilliantly together - if the laugh is there to set up the next scare. But when it’s just a stray joke, it can pull you right out of the moment, and that happens more than once here.
A nice thematic touch: the 2:17 disappearance time isn’t random. It’s a nod to Matthew 2:17 in the Bible, which references the massacre of children - "The Slaughter of the Innocents." Some theaters even leaned into this by scheduling showtimes at exactly 2:17 p.m. It’s a small detail, but it adds another layer of unease.
Netflix reportedly offered more money for the project, but New Line’s track record with horror - and a guaranteed theatrical release - won Cregger over. Originally slated for January 2026, it was moved up to August 8, 2025, after strong test screenings. Smart move - this is the kind of summer horror that gets people talking heading into Halloween.
Audiences showed up. Weapons opened at $42.5 million domestically, topping the box office and pulling in over $70 million worldwide in its first weekend. That’s impressive for an original horror film in a market dominated by franchise names.
So where does it land? Weapons is ambitious, unsettling, and worth seeing. It’s not flawless - slow pacing and a few off-tone moments hold it back - but it delivers an original horror story with memorable performances and a finale that actually feels like an ending, not a setup for part two, but Horror movies can turn franchise if the fans come out for it. We will see what happens.
Final Score: 6.8 / 10
Worth your time if you want something fresh in the genre. Just be ready for the long build-up and a few moments that hit harder than you might want.
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