“Weapons”(2025) is a movie directed by Zach Cregger from “Barbarian”(2022) fame. “Barbarian” was Cregger’s breakout film which received a whopping 92% on rotten tomatoes and a 7/10 on IMDB. Cregger has stated in multiple interviews that “Weapons” is “deeply personal” and the message goes into things he dealt with in his real life.

The movie states again and again that “at 2:17 every child from Ms Gandy’s class woke up, got out of bed, opened the door, walked into the dark and was never seen again.” The chilling narration in the trailer left me and many others hooked before I even sat down to watch it in theaters.

“Weapons” deals with addiction and more specifically the abuse of alcohol. Many of the main characters are seen using alcohol to cope with their losses, especially Julia Gardener who plays Justine Gandy, the elementary school teacher who has her class taken.  That is, all except one mysterious boy named Alex played by 10-year0old Cary Christopher.

The main evil is connected to a bell that is used to control others, this bell is lovingly stamped with an Alcoholics Anonymous  logo which is an obvious metaphor for the control alcohol and drugs have over its victims.  The story is reflecting the reality of the director’s past involving drugs and alcohol and it nicely portrays how hard addiction can be on those addicted and the people that love them.

Overall “Weapons” in my opinion could be a contender for movie of the year. It was an excellent movie that made me laugh and at the same time feel immense dread. I left the theatre with the message, jokes and scares still on my mind and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a new good horror movie to watch.