Following up on the promise shown in Barbarian, writer/director Zach Cregger presents what is for the most part an old-school mystery-thriller with impactful moments of gleeful gory horror (think Sam Raimi and Eli Roth), as seventeen students from the same school class leave their homes and disappear at 2.17am, with the town's anger and frustrations pointing very firmly at the young class teacher Justine Gandy. Telling the story of a month after the appalling event, the film takes the form of chapters, telling the events through different interconnecting characters' lives and allowing the viewer to piece together the solution to the mystery. The film is meticulously crafted in storytelling, sound and on-screen presentation, with Cregger in complete control of his narrative and audience, largely through use of camera and editing; the film held the cinema audience in the palm of its hand for two hours, including the moments of shock and of humour release (especially in the all-out finale). It is stacked with a quirky cast of strong character actors, notably Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich and Benedict Wong. It is also fun to try to work out how some of the striking moments from the trailer will fit in along the way. To say any more would spoil the mystery, but Weapons is a very accomplished and engaging commercial movie.
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