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.

It’s hard to believe one of the new heroes of horror cinema is from one of the goofballs that broke out with The Whitest Kids U’Know, a sketch comedy show from the early aughts. Weapons writer-director Zach Cregger first made a name in the horror genre as writer-director behind Barbarian, an airBnB cautionary tale from 2022 that was one of the best flicks of that year. Now, he’s back with the creepy, scary, wild Weapons that also happens to be way funnier than you’d expect.

The film opens with the requisite creepy girl narrator telling the story of how 17 students (all but one) from the same classroom all disappeared one night at the exact same time. The ring camera images of them running off in the night sets the tone for the eerie thriller. Julia Garner (three-time Emmy winner for Ozark) is the kids’ teacher, Justine, a messy, distraught young woman whom many of the parents in town blame for the incident. Archer (Josh Brolin) is one such dad. A gruff, imposing man who begins his attack on Justine at a PTA meeting. He’s his own mess, screwing up at work, because he’s unable to deal with his grief. Alden Ehrenreich (redeeming himself for Solo) is an on the wagon cop with a history with Justine. Austin Abrams is a local crackhead. Benedict Wong is the principal. And Cary Christopher is Alex, the one student left behind. But the crux of the movie is in Amy Madigan’s Aunt Gladys, a mysterious relative of Alex’s that shows up to he help care for him. The less said about her the better. Not because she’s not great, she truly deserves an Oscar for this performance, but the layers unfolding to Gladys are best left to experience than summary.

The movie is aggressive in its creepiness, as everyone looks for answers in different corners, finding them in unimaginable places. There are so many great scenes that are too overly complex (and filled with spoilers) to succinctly reference. Overall, though, I found Weapons to be a wonderful film – surprising, engaging, full of great scenes and great performances (aside from Madigan’s MVP, Garner is expectedly wonderful and Ehrenreich and Abrams both acquit themselves nicely).

Jonathan’s grade – A-