Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his 2022 surprise art house horror hit “Barbarian” builds just as confidently with mood, moxie and acrid, enigmatic tugs. “Weapons” has you from the get-go as a young child from the fictional town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, informs in a soft, reflective voice-over how one night 17 children exited their suburban homes at the exact moment of 2:17 a.m. and, holding their arms out like birds about to take flight, ran into the night and vanished. There’s a liberating joyousness to the otherwise ominous exodus. The next day at school, we learn that all were students of a new teacher, Justine Grundy (Julia Garner, “The Assistant,” “Ozark”), so when Justine walks in, the classroom is empty except for one: Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), a small, quiet boy and the subject of regular bullying.
Parents are understandably upset and want answers. During a town meeting, Justine is blamed and castigated for her inability to provide answers. Later, her car is vandalized with the ominous tag of “witch” in bold red letters.
“Weapons” is told in chapters from different characters’ POVs beginning with Justine – who’s in every part – and ending with Alex. In between, we get Marcus (Benedict Wong, “Dr. Strange”), the school principal who places Justine on administrative leave and begins to look into Alex’s home life. Justine does too. What they discover is a house with the windows obscured with newspaper, the parents in silhouette sitting inertly on the couch in the living room and the sudden presence of a creepy older aunt (a wry Amy Madigan) with clownishly bad hair and makeup.
The carefully paced mystery deepens when the fathers of one of the missing, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin, of the “Avengers” and “Dune” films), a vocal accuser of Justine, uses doorbell camera footage to map out the children’s trajectory (and destination). Adding intrigue is Justine’s boozy relationship with a married local police officer (Alden Ehrenreich, “Solo: A Star Wars Story”); and then there’s James (Austin Ames), the town junkie, who lives in a tent in the nearby woods and bides his time by seeking out an unlocked car or house door that might garner an opportunity to boost.
Ultimately, all paths lead back to Justine or Alex, and about an hour in, things get bloody – and gruesomely so.
“Weapons” is not as tight as “Barbarian,” but it is more ambitious, and there’s a lot within. Take the title, or Archer’s premonition of an assault rifle. Like Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” is what we’re seeing unfold supernaturally onscreen a metaphor for the horrors of real life? If yes, it’s a bit heavy-handed, but otherwise a solid chill ride bolstered and driven by an incredible ensemble with Garner and Christopher providing the stabilizing, mooring points even at a point where the boundaries of plausibility are challenged.
Ames, a “Euphoria” alum, should see his adult-role stock rise – he’s got a bit of Brad Pitt’s tic from “12 Monkeys” (1995) – and Ehrenreich as well; he seems to be channeling John C. Riley’s love-starved cop from “Magnolia” (1999), while Madigan’s creepy elder has flashes of the freaky incarnation from Stephen King’s “It” and Mia Goth’s grim granny in “X” (2022).
The format lends to the film’s enigmatic edginess and helps keep the narrative feeling taut despite a running time of more than two hours. In scope, arc and texture it feels much like the work of fellow art house horror darling Ari Aster, and in future repertory programs I can see “Weapons” on a double bill with “Eddington,” which also tackles the underbelly of the everyday via the macabre and outré.
For What it's Worth 
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