Director Zach Cregger made a big impression with his horror film BARBARIAN, which took a lot of folks by surprise in a good way. His newest film is WEAPONS, which is a very different kind of movie, but may just be one of the best entries for the horror genre in recent years.

In a small American town, 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. The teacher of that class, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), becomes a prime suspect, though even she seems to bave no clue what happened or why. The parents of the missing children, including Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), are desperate for answers. The film is broken up into chapters focused on different key characters, showing us their perspectives and how the same events unfolded for each of them – a sort of ROSHOMON-style bit of storytelling that culminates to a big finish.

This is a hard movie to talk about without getting into spoilers, but I’ll do my best to keep the most shocking elements from being revealed. One thing Cregger does quite well is establish an effective sense of dread and unease, really keeping us on edge and constantly guessing what’s really at play here. There is an eventual reveal that explains things, and even then you’re not sure how these situations could be resolved. Part of what makes this work so well is the way the characters are handled, each with their own stress and confusion, allowing the audience to face the shocking revelations as they do. The first half of the movie almost doesn’t feel like a horror film, just a mysterious drama that is slow to reveal any answers – it’s as if we are the town asking questions and not getting any satisfying answers… and it works.

The cast is superb, with Julia Garner leading the ensemble as the confused teacher with a questionable past. We’re pretty sure she’s done nothing wrong here, but it’s a cautionary tale of how even the most simple problems of your past can come back to haunt your present. Garner is excellent in the role, and really sells the discomfort she finds herself in. Brolin is the perfect singular encapsulation of the angry parents coping with sudden and unexplained loss. His obsession with the disappearance of his son is something anyone could identify with, but it also makes his actions feel dangerous and at times irrational, all while being something we could relate with. Alden Ehrenreich plays a local cop who used to date Garner’s character, and is trying really hard to stay sober, but is also feeling the stress of his job and discomfort of sobriety. Benedict Wong is a welcome face here as the school principal, who is trying to be understanding of the confused parents, while also doing his best to protect Justine from the understandable suspicions. Two of the standout performances here are young Cary Christopher as Alex, the one child who didn’t disappear from Miss Gandy’s class, and Amy Madigan as an eccentric woman who shows up later in the film trying to help the town get some answers. Christopher has a difficult role to play in the story, and he’s excellent is almost every scene, an important performance that could make or break this movie, and he nails it. And Madigan is clearly having fun in her role, almost unrecognizable and really effective with her scenes – this is a character that will stick with you for sure.

WEAPONS is unsettling when it needs to be, humorous at times, and really inventive in how it handles its narrative. There’s a lot going on here, and it all feels very cohesive and haunting. It’s also a film that isn’t afraid to reward its audience in big ways, almost as if Cregger knows he’s putting us through a lot, and making sure we get satisfying resolves when needed. This movie is creepy and fun, and it’s a refreshing take on the horror genre that is destined to become an instant classic. It also solidifies Cregger as a voice in cinema that everyone should be keeping their eye on.

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