Taking A Peek Into Weapons

It’s a pretty rare feat to see a horror film given a major release in the local theater.  Tarot, Abigail, Longlegs and even the I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot for instance, were relegated to smaller screens in the theater, while Maxxxine and The Monkey didn’t make it in at all.  So, imagine my surprise when Weapons, a movie whose most significant star power is Josh Brolin, made it not only into my local theater, but onto an IMAX screen to boot!  Color me intrigued. Between that, and several very positive reviews, I just had to check it out. And lets just say it was quite a bit different than I imagined!

The Inherent Terror of Lost Children

The basic story is that the children in one elementary school classroom wake up at exactly 2:17am one evening, walk out of their homes, and vanish into the dark without a trace.  Abduction is ruled out early on as several of the homes had cameras that displayed the children running out on their own, into the night, as if they were imitating an airplane.

The next morning, their teacher, Justine Gandy (magnificently portrayed by Ozark alum Julia Garner), turns up to discover only one of her pupils, Alex Lilly, present for the day.  Subsequent police investigations, exhaustive interviews of Justine and Alex as well as his family, and even canine intervention fail to turn up any leads on the missing kids.  In the meantime the small town begins to unravel. The ire of the parents turns on Ms. Gandy, who is plagued by threatening phone calls and disturbing late night knocks on her door as she seeks escape in alcohol.

Archer Graff (expertly portrayed by Josh Brolin) is the father of one of the missing kids, and has taken to sleeping in his son’s bed as his relationship with his wife has become increasingly strained.  Spending his days watching the footage of his son running out of the house and into the dark, he is convinced that Ms. Gandy is responsible for the disappearances.

Of course, if you think that this is just a crime drama film, oh boy do you have another thing coming!

A True Story?

The opening narration for the film states that it is based on a “true story,” but those claims have become so common in films that they’re bordering on cliche.  In the case of Weapons, the “true story” it is based around is more of a general concept than a factual case.  Children disappear with alarming frequency, so basing a film around the disappearance of children is factual, even if the movie takes it in a completely fictional direction.

Final Thoughts

In some ways, Weapons reminds me of the Canadian Oscar nominated film The Sweet Hereafter.  That film, based on an American novel of the same name which was set in New York, revolves around a tragic bus crash on an icy road that leaves all but the bus driver and one teenage girl dead. There are obvious parallels between both films here (one adult and one child remaining, a small town torn apart by grief) even if the stories diverge dramatically (meant both literally and figuratively) in other ways.

Weapons is told in a series of chapters centered around either a main character, or a character who will play a bigger part in the story as it unfolds.  I appreciated this slow burn puzzle-like format enough that it kept me firmly parked in my seat despite a full bladder, which may be the highest praise I can bestow on the film.  It’s a well acted, engaging, and very creepy film that kept me on the edge of my seat and went in a direction I did not expect.  I highly recommend it!

Have you seen Weapons? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Until next time…

JK away!