Weapons opens with an initial voiceover from a young girl, telling us that no-one could solve what happened on what was a normal Wednesday, when all the kids ran out at 2.17am, except one…
Meanwhile, – any houses’ Ring Cams (other brands are available) show that kids all ran out voluntarily, with no-one urging them on, so what caused it?
The film is then told in a series of six chapters, following the story of the respective individuals, with later ones sometimes recounting what’s already happened – albeit from a different viewpoint, while others carry on the story.
They are:
- 1. Justine Candy (Julia Garner – Fantastic Four: First Steps) – the teacher of the class which saw all but one child run away, hence everyone harrassing her, thinks she knows more than she’s letting on, but does she?
- 2. Archer (Josh Brolin – The Goonies 40th Anniversary) – the parent of one of the missing children.
- 3. Paul (Alden Ehrenreich – Oppenheimer) – the cop who’s having an affair with Justine.
- 4. James (Austin Abrams – Dash And Lily) – the local crackhead, who gives the cops the runaround, and the resultant headache.
- 5. Marcus (Benedict Wong – Spider-Man: No Way Home More Fun Stuff Version) – The school’s headmaster.
- 6. Alex (Cary Christopher) – The only member of the class who did NOT go missing.
Like with a lot of films I watch, I took a load of notes for it, albeit mostly taking down points about the plot as it went on, but if I was to list them here, they would be spoilers, since Weapons tells a story from A to B, and I don’t want to reveal any part of it.
It’s safe to say that it weaves multiple individual stories together well, but few films can match up to the quality of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, from 1999.
However, while Weapons is weird as hell, when you look back at the bizarre moments which come along in the film, they don’t really make a huge amount of sense, so its success has come about more from word-of-mouth hype than a well-structured script.
NOTE: There are no mid- or post-credit scenes.
Weapons is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 128 minutes
Release date: August 8th 2025
Studio: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (4.6K), Anamorphic Master Scope)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7/10
Director: Zach Cregger
Producers: Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, JD Lifshitz, Raphael Margules, Miri Yoon
Screenplay: Zach Cregger
Music: Zach Cregger, Hays Holladay, Ryan Holladay
Cast:
Justine Candy: Julia Garner
Archer: Josh Brolin
Paul: Alden Ehrenreich
Alex: Cary Christopher
James: Austin Abrams
Marcus: Benedict Wong
Gladys: Amy Madigan
Alex’s Dad: Whitmer Thomas
Alex’s Mom: Callie Schuttera
Archer’s Wife: Melissa Ponzio
Donna: June Diane Raphael
Narrator: Scarlett Sher (voice)
Counselor: Jason Turner
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.