I think I've found another horror director I love as much as Jordan Peele: Zach Cregger. And like Peele, Cregger also got a start in sketch comedy (The Whitest Kids U Know).
I first watched his 2022 movie Barbarian and loved it immediately. Unfortunately it was never released on DVD, but has recently started streaming. Weapons is his follow up from this year.
Similar to Barbarian, Weapons speaks to deeper meanings if you look past the gore and crazy imagery. The script for the film was written after Cregger lost his friend and Whitest Kids U Know costar Trevor Moore. The film touches on addiction and the way society responds to tragedies (particularly ones involving children), and the unspoken things happening behind closed doors at home.
The film is an ensemble, focusing on a collection of different characters. One thing I was not the biggest fan of was how the story was told from the point of view of the characters. You replay many moments from different perspectives. There are times it adds some more context, but there are also times it gets too repetive. I think if there were a little polishing, it might've worked a bit better.
I thought the perspectives of Justine (Julia Garner), the teacher of the missing children, and Alex (Cary Christopher), the one child who didn't disappear from the class, were the most impactful. Especially Alex, since he's the sort of center of the story. Cary did a great job playing the role of the child who goes about his life as if things are normal while things at home aren't what they seem.
One of the standout characters is Amy Madigan's Aunt Gladys. In the role, Amy is creepy, weird, and leaves you wanting to know more. There is talk of having a prequel for Aunt Gladys. I get a bit hesitant of prequel and sequels outside of franchise films (like Marvel) because we seem to have so few stand-alone movies after they becomes super popular. I can appreciate franchises, but it's also nice to have films that just *are*. A story where we don't need every detail of what happened before and after. I can see having a story around Aunt Gladys. I'd like an origin that doesn't fully connect to the events of Weapons, which seems to be the intention of Cregger.
If you're a fan of horror, I highly recommend Weapons. Especially if you're a fan of Jordan Peele's type of horror.
