Zach Cregger’s second film Weapons successfully expands his collection of absurdist horrors, following the triumph of his directorial debut Barbarian in 2022. This much anticipated feature delivers on tension and carefully placed scares, and its intriguing narrative structure leads viewers through the withheld secrets of the main characters.

At 2.17 am, 17 children from Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) class have gone missing, seemingly fleeing their homes in the middle of the night for no reason. The next morning, Ms Gandy walks into her classroom to find Alex Lilley (Carey Christopher) is her only remaining student. While Justine and Alex are questioned, the police search comes up empty. Parents and law enforcement alike are baffled as to where their children have disappeared to.

As the film continues, its unique narrative structure becomes evident. The film moves from the objective to the subjective gaze of six different characters: Justine; Archer (Josh Brolin), the father of a missing child who takes it upon himself to investigate the disappearances; Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), Justine’s corrupt cop ex-boyfriend; James (Austin Abrams), a homeless drug-addict who is continually pursued by Paul; Marcus (Benedict Wong), the school’s principle; and the young Alex.

It is the film’s structure that provides much of the interest in this film. As Justine and Archer continue to collect information about the town’s mystery, the narrative unveils the secrets of each character as their paths ultimately converge. We are able to piece together the disappearance of these missing children by the information displayed to us through these perspectives, although the twists that arrive in the third act are hard to predict.

While this is intriguing upon first watch, upon greater reflection it feels as though the bouncing narrative may cover up more than it reveals, filling the film with character information that provides no assistance in driving the story forward. Even though it creates nuanced protagonists, I can’t help but feel the main mystery was left underdeveloped and individual motivations seem unclear.

With that being said, however, Weapons is another inventive horror film from Zach Cregger. The script is effortlessly funny, often providing relief in an otherwise anxiety-ridden atmosphere. Garner succinctly portrays the disturbed Ms Gandy’s downward spiral that has her crossing professional and personal boundaries, and Carey Christopher gives a standout performance as the young boy who becomes entangled at the forefront of this mystery. The film results in a final act no viewer would be expecting. Weapons remains genuinely disturbing throughout, providing both jump-scares and slow nail-biting tension that keep you hooked for its two-hour duration.

Catch Weapons in UK cinemas from 8^th August 2025 and, if you’re interested, you can watch the trailer here: