A valentine to harbored resentment and the perils of ignoring evil to maintain and a sense of normalcy, Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS is up there with my favorite American movies this century. I use the words “American” and “movie” very intentionally. Don’t get me wrong, there have been better, or at least more probing, films by American filmmakers. But I wouldn’t classify them as a “movie”.
MOVIES VS. FILMS – THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PLOT
This distinction between American movies and films (American or otherwise) is largely inspired by Quentin Tarantino, In his view, a “movie” is a piece of entertainment. It’s designed to be a compelling, visceral experience for an audience in a theater. It’s about spectacle, emotion, and the immediate, shared thrill of a good story. Tarantino sees this as the foundational purpose of American cinema, particularly Western, gangster, horror, and martial arts stories. A “movie” should have a powerful, satisfying climax. A movie is raw, emotional storytelling with a lasting impact.
Which is to say that movies have a more commercial, audience calibrated, structure – focusing on calculated story delivery or “PLOT” per se: story structure, pacing, and dramatic payoffs – all duly calculated to deliver emotionally and memorably. There are few filmmakers working today beyond Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarantino that seem to be delivering the kind of nuanced moviemaking (not filmmaking) with character arcs integrated into well calculated plot payoffs. Consider EDDINGTON and BRING HER BACK, two recent films that cover similar ground as WEAPONS but very differently and with very different results.
I think even Ari Aster’s EDDINGTON is an arguably more interesting and maybe “better” film that asks deeper questions, and covers similar topics as WEAPONS, specifically about community disintegration, but it is a wildly unfocused and idiosyncratic ride from a plot and pacing standpoint – and therefore not very “American movie” in that traditional sense. Some may prefer that. Heck, sometimes I prefer that. And Aster purposefully made the film this way, seeming intent on creating a comedy laced with vitriol and unsettling moments.
The Phillipou Brothers’ BRING HER BACK also covers topics about loss, possession, manipulation and replacement in an arguably deeper (and creepier way) than WEAPONS, but it also feels less meaningful beyond its characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing. And a restrained nihilistic approach is something rewarded critically and intellectually if not necessarily by audiences or at the box office. As such, BRING HER BACK received universal acclaim, a higher metacritic score than WEAPONS but fared really poorly at the US Box Office.
Unlike their 2023 hit film TALK TO ME, which saw a bunch of teams “get theirs” (a longstanding trope of American slasher horror), BRING HER BACK has two likable, vulnerable guilt-ridden teens at its core who fall into the trap of a manipulative practitioner of possession. The film offers an overtly brutal ending, far more overtly bleak and brutal than WEAPONS (though I’d argue that WEAPONS is bleak as night if you look hard enough).
The way Cregger delivers an American movie with American payoffs and satisfaction is due to his expert planning and delivery of PLOT. The story feels like it is unfolding before our eyes – even though it is told in partitioned chapters devoted to a single character with overlapping moments and beats. Each chapter has its own climax and each chapter has its own way of overflowing into other stories. It feels like an effortless chaptered fairytale – but if you take a closer look at the structure, it is a heavy lift and something that Cregger must have been constantly focused on during the writing of the film. The timeline, if laid out chronologically, is fractured and dragging at times. Much like Christopher Nolan’s work (especially in films like MEMENTO, INTERSTELLAR, DUNKIRK, and TENET), Cregger tells his story through dramatical builds, eschewing time and traditional markers. Cregger focuses on the characters’ individual stories and the visceral emotional payoffs of the third act and particularly the climactic sequence. But to get to that climax is a real piece of work from a writing and structural standpoint.
So I wanted to break down the timeline and look at how WEAPONS might have played out more traditionally by doing my best to break down its timeline. I think my analysis almost works – with one or two big questions.
THE DAY TO DAY TIMELINE OF WEAPONS
I’ve completed an in depth timeline of all of the action that takes place in WEAPONS, a spreadsheet that details the leaps that the subconscious audience member’s brain takes to allow for an “American movie” to truly deliver – especially in its third act. WEAPONS takes place over EIGHT days (going Sunday to Sunday) with no character appearing in every day. Cregger leaves both visual and dialogue clues that trick the viewer’s subconscious into forgetting just how much time is transpiring as we watch. In a way the audience is no different from the possessed children of Ms. Gandy’s class is stuck in the basement or Alex’s possessed parents.
So here is the spreadsheet. With a day by day breakdown of the action of each character.
For the purposes of tracking, I’ve included each character that receives a title card (Justine, Archer, Paul, James, Marcus, and Alex) and also Aunt Gladys – as she plays such a pivotal role in terms of motivating the action. I’ve also included the visual queue of the newspapers on the Lily driveway, which Cregger leaves (figuratively and literally) as a way to help check and track the days that are transpiring over the course of the film (though they may not be entirely accurate). Here is the day to day analysis.
DAY 1 – SUNDAY
The film’s opening montage (which gets the audience caught up on the disappearance of 17 missing kids from Maybrook Elementary) concludes with the unseen child narrator, Maddie, delivering a line from two years in the future: “This is where the story really starts.” The parents and teachers at Maybrook Elementary have gathered for a school event to air grievances and ask questions prior to the school restarting classes the following day, about a month after 17 of 18 students in Justine Gandy’s class disappeared, wandering into the night.
For purposes of this essay, this event will be hereafter known as the “Parents Meeting”. This meeting kicks the action of Day 1 off for Justine’s timeline. And though there are events in the film that are eventually shown prior to the meeting, the meeting is a great universal flag to tie all threads to. After Justine (played by Julia Garner) is yelled at and confronted at the parents’ meeting, Justine visits the liquor store, gets a prank call, notices Archer Graff’s (played by Josh Brolin) pick-up in the parking lot upon exiting, returns home to drink (heavily) and watch SHARK TANK, followed by a loud game of essentially Ding-Dong-Ditch and then exits her home to find her car vandalized.
Also on Day 1, earlier in the day, we later see Archer (played by Josh Brolin) waking in his now missing son’s bed, visiting a construction site and answering to the site foreman. It is revealed that he has been a little checked out. The crew is behind, Archer had not placed an order that he was supposed to have placed and also ordered the wrong color paint (which he places in his pick-up and later uses to vandalize Justine’s car). Archer then visits the police station where he talks to Captain Ed Locke (Toby Huss) who stymies his inquiries into developments on the case of the missing kids.
His frustration with Locke (and his job performance) pours over into the Parents Meeting when he confronts Justine Gandy. We know this is the same day by his clothes. Presumably he has also not taken the paint out of his truck. He later stalks her (seemingly following her to the liquor store) and paints her car.
Archer then goes home and presumably on the same night has a dream about his missing son Matthew. Aunt Gladys (played by Amy Madigan) appears to be sleeping in his son Matthew’s bed in the dream. It is important to note that Archer’s dream could technically be Friday (Day 6) – and that this is an indeterminate event. Though the dream, and the idea that he is being haunted after his actions of defacing Justine Gandy’s car, tie nicely to Sunday.
When Archer wakes up and begins his quest to locate his son Matthew through the directional use of his running, this is actually almost a WEEK later, on the following Saturday. This time jump is one of the film’s biggest “buy-in’s” in that most audience members will never realize this but it is indeed present in the carefully plotted timeline.
Principal Marucs (played by Benedict Wong) is also at the Parents Meeting, though he largely acts as a buffer for Justine and ushers her in and out of the meeting and away from Archer and the rest of the confrontational parents.
Alex Lily and the newspapers are not present on Day 1.
DAY 2 – MONDAY
On Day 2, Justine gets put on leave by Principal Marcus. We know this is Day 2 as school is starting (which Marcus notes in his speech to Justine) and Marcus specifically refers to the events of “last night” at the parents meeting. And school was to start the day after the parents meeting. And it makes sense for school to start on a Monday.
After Justine is told she cannot talk to Alex, she watches Alex Lily and later goes to the police station to report that her car was vandalized. At the station she sees Paul (played by Alden Ehrenreich) about to get into his car and begin his shift. They wave to each other and share a moment. Justine later texts him, setting up drinks at a bar. The two later meet for a drink, hook up, sleep together, and wake up the next day together.
The previously mentioned Paul’s story begins on Monday, Day 2. He is about to begin his shift at work as a patrolman/officer for the Maybrook Police Department when he receives a call from his wife who reveals she will be coming home early, three days early – being released on Thursday and coming home on Friday (this also marks the day as MONDAY) – and also that the two can now go to his parents’ anniversary party that weekend (remember this). He stops by at Captain Locke’s office, who we discover is his father in law and lets him know that he and his wife (the captain’s daughter) will be at the anniversary party later that weekend. Now try to remember that it will be on a Sunday. But the effect of the back to back conversations is that the whole process seems to make Paul feel very “put upon” and uneasy. He is being told what to do, and he does not like it.
So when he goes into his shift, his emotions erupt in a confrontation with unhoused drug addict James (played by Austin Abrams). Paul finds James (more on that in a moment), about to break into a building. He chases James, apprehends him, searches him and gets stabbed by an IV needle which causes Paul to hit James and knock him out. He later releases James on his own recognisance, saying “you did me wrong and I did you wrong”.
As a note to the “movie” qualities of WEAPONS and not the “film” qualities, I have to say that having a car camera that possibly captured Paul clocking James be the reason that Paul releases James is a nice “GOTCHA” moment for the audience and churns plot, but is far less interesting than what might have been a more “filmic” choice, which would be having Paul release James on his own (from feelings of both guilt and to avoid a report at the station). This is one of my few notes for WEAPONS but there are a handful – where Zach Cregger definitely and definitively choses MOVIE story elements as opposed to more FILMIC ones. And I think he does this to keep the plot going – and trackable – over long stretches where the characters do not appear.
Later Paul, in a moment of need and vulnerability after a rough day, meets up with Justine (again this choice also might have been more interesting without the Car Cam plot device) and the two have drinks and hook up. But again, Zach is trying to churn plot for everyone in the audience so that they “get” why these people are stressed and cracking on a primal level.
James’ (the unhoused drug addict) narrative also kicks off on Day 2 as he is seen waking up, running out of drugs/crack, and attempts to break into cars to find money/goods to procure drugs. He finds a child’s tablet, ipod, and headphones and unsuccessfully tries to pawn them. He then runs into Paul who temporarily detains him, but after hitting him (and the car cam catching it), lets him go.
Then in a wild edit, what we think is later that afternoon is actually FOUR days later, as we catch up with James prior to his breaking into the Lily home on FRIDAY (but more on that on Day 6).
Alex, Archer, Gladys, and “the newspapers” are all missing from Day 2.
DAY 3 – TUESDAY
Due to Justine and Paul spending the night together, Day 3 is a relatively easy day to mark and attach to the previous day. It is on this day that Paul wakes up in Justine’s bed. Justine drops Paul off at his car. Paul arrives home to find his wife home three days early (she was supposed to be dismissed on Thursday evening/Friday – as mentioned by her in her phone call to Paul on the previous day – it is now Tuesday). His wife immediately realizes that he was out drinking and cheated on her by the way he acts and avoids answering her questions. She even knows who he cheated with – or maybe Paul reveals that off-camera (again a choice that might have been explained or shown in a “film” for greater character insight, but in this “movie” – where we’re on a tight clock – we need to fill in the blanks, and we do).
After dropping Paul off, Justine spies on Alex Lily arriving at school, then follows (but does not confront him). Instead she goes to the Lily Home and snoops around. She sees the two Lily parents zombified or – as I will refer to the effect that Aunt Glady has on people – “possessed”. Just prior to Justine creeping around the Lily home, there is a very important moment for a seemingly trivial shot – a shot of newspapers.
Here, Cregger gives the audience the first shot of the accumulating newspapers on the driveway. There are three. And these newspapers help to subconsciously mark time for the audience throughout the film. Coincidentally, this is the third day of the narrative and the aggregation of the papers will give us an insight into the timeline going forward.
As a side question, why are the newspapers accumulating now? Aunt Gladys has seemingly been “in charge” for over a month. In my head, the reasoning is that Alex, now back at school, has less time, and wants to spend as little time in the front yard to avoid questions from people like Justine. Still the newspapers feels like a real “plot device” and speak to similar devices throughout the film that more discerning viewers might question.
Justine calls Marcus to report on her suspicions of the Lily Home. In his own story, Marcus is shown grocery shopping with his husband/partner and receiving this call from Justine. Interestingly, Cregger cust the call with Justine when we think Marcus has ended it, but we see in Marcus’ story that Justine continues persistently pestering Marcus to check on the Lily’s and see the house for himself. Marcus agrees to meet with Alex Lily’s parents – which he presumably sets up for later in the week (and would have to for this tight timeline to work). That quick of a turnover for a parental meeting is unorthodox but not unheard of, especially considering the situation.
Justine runs into the liquor store where she is confronted by Paul’s wife who pours vodka all over her. She then goes home, gets drunk, and passes out watching a reality TV show. After walking to be drunk, during a dream, Gladys now appears to Justine – along with Alex in what appears to be clown make-up but is actually just Aunt Gladys’ heavy make-up.
Archer and James are absent from Day 3.
DAY 4 – WEDNESDAY
Justine follows Alex but this time also confronts Alex who tells her to stay away. She does not, instead sitting in her car and drinking and watching the home. When she passes out, Alex’s mother, under the control of Aunt Gladys, enters Justine’s car and cuts a lock of her hair.
How do we know this is the NEXT day. While it dramatically “feels like it” – that’s not good enough (see Archer’s story). Instead, as Justine sits watching the home, there are four newspapers on the driveway, Cregger’s clue that another day – but not too many – have passed.
Archer, Paul, James, and Gladys all do not appear on Day 4.
DAY 5 – THURSDAY (Interchangable with Friday)
The action that occurs on Thursday and Friday is Interchangable. I would say that I tend to think that it all occurs on Friday – especially the Gladys/Marcus meeting as Gladys seemingly is triggered by Marcus’ inquests and quickly arrives at his home on Saturday to make sure he has not called Child Protective Services and to ultimately possess him and use him to murder Justine.
For the first time, Justine is not a part of the action. This is the day that we return to James. His actions on this day seemingly occur JUST after Paul releases him from custody (which happened way back on Monday, Day 2). But this is not the case. To Cregger’s credit the shiner on his face definitely looks worse, as it might after a few days. Also note that when we pick up with James, he is in the rain, soaked – a storm that was not present on Monday – and looking for some kind of score.
Anyway, James breaks into the Lily home, steals a video game console, DVD’s and silverware. He finds Alex Lily’s parents on the couch in their zombified state. He also goes into the basement and for the first time in the film, the missing 17 children are revealed in the basement of the Lily home. He immediately exits the home, and is chased out by Alex Lily’s possessed parents.
James arrives at the Lily home drenched from the downpour and finds it empty. There are six newspapers out front. And this is the first time that some in the audience might notice the convention of the papers – though solely as a way to signal that the house is ready to be robbed. For the more discerning viewer, they should know that this is DAYS later from when Justine first snooped in the house, which was a day AFTER James and Paul had their first confrontation.
And some have asked why doesn’t Gladys possess James during the break-in? Well from a practical standpoint, Aunt Gladys has not been revealed yet to the audience within the screenplay. I do think there is a strong argument that James robbing the house and Marcus’ meeting with Gladys all occur on the same day as when James arrives at 11:38AM inside of the Lily Home, Gladys is presumably getting ready to meet with Marcus, gathering all of her strength. Gladys would be focused on that and getting ready – with little time or desire to deal with a low level threat like James.
But setting this robbery on Thursday means that James’ robbing the Lily Home, going to the pawn shop, calling the tip line, and ultimately getting chased by Paul, captured and taken back to the Lily Home occurs over THREE days. This action could easily all occur on one day (and Cregger presents it that way to the unassuming audience member). But it definitely occurs on at least two as the newspapers on the driveway increase from when James arrives to rob the home to when James returns with Paul in the police cruiser. There are six Newspapers on the driveway when James arrives to rob the house and eight when the cruiser arrives later. The six newspapers is an odd choice also as if you place this day on Thursday, six papers does not sync up with the three and four papers that were in the driveway the previous days. If you place this day on Friday, the six newspapers do not sync up with the eight and nine papers shows on Saturday and Sunday (both days which are confirmed by in-film dialogue, and more on that in a moment). So how do we reconcile this?
I think Cregger puts six papers here to throw the audience off, especially annoying audience members like me. James is arguably very altered when arriving at the house and his own view of the house is not necessarily one we should trust. The odd number of newspapers reflects James’ own mental state and imparts the confusion, over literally what day it is, on to the audience.
I also think the newspaper on the lawn may be a piece of mail and not a newspaper at all and that there are five newspapers here, signaling Day 5 and this is all a miscount by me.
Archer, Paul, James, Alex, and Gladys are all not featured on Thursday, Day 5.
DAY 6 – FRIDAY
If the robbery was on Thursday, Day 5, then in Day 6, Friday, James goes on to sell his silverware to the pawnshop and sees the reward for the missing 17 children. He scores some drugs and smokes out. Again the robbery, pawn shop, score, and call into the tip line could ALL occur on Friday. But it would mean that nothing in the narrative occurs on Thursday. Which is a little troubling. Still, his second confrontation with Paul, outside of the Maybrook Police Station, is definitely the following day (thanks to the increasing newspapers).
Later on Friday, Day 6, Aunt Gladys arrives for her meeting with Principal Marcus. It is noticeably overcast with high winds outside Marcus’ window, subconsciously tying into the simultaneous nasty weather that James finds elsewhere in Maybrook. At her meeting with the Principal, Gladys realizes that she will need to bring Alex’s parents in for a meeting or have the Principal meet them at the Lily home (neither of which she wants), due to a welfare complaint (from Justine’s call the previous day). It is here that the finale of the film truly begins to churn as Gladys realizes she must take action against Marcus (and Justine).
A reminder, that we see SIX newspapers outside of the Lily home on this day, just before James is about to break into the house.
Justine, Archer, Paul, and Alex are all missing from Day 6.
DAY 7 – SATURDAY
This day is the most action packed of the film – features all main characters – and sets up the final confrontation on early Sunday morning.
The action kicks off as Marcus is interrupted from what looks to be a wonderful lunch of seven hot dogs, chips, and carrots by Aunt Gladys at his home. She explicitly states this is a Saturday and she was waiting in the wrong place for the bus and had to walk ALL the way across town. (and this is a weekend as we find Marcus, the school Principal, at home away from school with his partner). Marcus’ partner invites Glady in after she begs for a glass of water. Gladys inquires as to whether or not Marcus has called Child Protective Services or the police. When Marcus admits he has not, Gladys possesses him and forces him to murder his partner – and then directs him to murder Justine next.
But prior to this attack, Archer’s narrative finally picks up again, all the way on Day 7. He was last seen on Day 1. This has to happen THIS WAY to tie into the action at the gas station. Also note that Marcus wears the same outfit when he leaves the house, talks to Bailey’s parents and is at the gas station, hospital and the next day in the final confrontation.
It is on this day in the timeline that Archer first gets the idea to linearly track the direction of Matthew’s run. He marks Matthew’s path on a map and then reaches out to the parents of another missing child who also have a ring camera (a great interaction with both the mother, played by Cregger’s wife Sara Paxton, and the father, played by Cregger’s friend Justin Long) to map out the run of their child, Bailey. He eventually does so, realizing that the running direction of the two children sync up into a very specific area of the Maybrook neighborhood.
On his way to presumably “case” that area, he spots Justine Gandy getting gas. He deviates from his path (ironically?) and confronts Justine. He inadvertently gets in the middle of an attack on Justine by the possessed Principal Marcus.
Speaking of Justine, she is seen for the first time since Day 4 (although heard in voiceover in Day 5 in her call to Marcus). Justine arrives at a gas station where she is first confronted by Archer, begins to argue with him, but this is then interrupted by an attack from a possessed Principal Marcus (under the orders of Aunt Gladys).
When Marcus eventually meets his end at the hands of a speeding car, Archer and Justine presumably have to answer questions by the police (taking up the rest of their day). Later Archer will go to the hospital to tend to his wounds from the Marcus confrontation.
On the other side of town at this same time, James is spotted by Paul, after calling in the tip for the Lily home and being directed to the police station, and is subsequently chased by Paul for a second time. James manages to ditch Paul, momentarily, in the weeds of whatever wooded area that his encampment is in. Gladys appears to James momentarily, and James runs into his tent. He gets nervous when he hears a noise outside, but it is Paul, whom he stabs with more needles. As a way to assuage a furious Paul, James offers that he knows where the missing kids are. Paul agrees to investigate.
The two arrive at the home where Gladys has presumably returned from her visit to Marcus’ home. She is able to possess Paul (off screen) who then later drags James into the house (where he is also subsequently possessed).
It is also on this day that Alex returns home (having walked to the store to buy more chicken soup, as evinced by the plastic bags filled with soup cans in each hand). Alex returning home is a bit of a “bump” in the film’s continuity. He arrives clearly when it is still light out, but James is not possessed until it is well dark outside. But Paul and James are BOTH possessed upon his arrival. Gladys tells Alex to pack his things, they are leaving tomorrow. And Alex realizes he needs to take action, and lucks into it when Justine and Archer arrive the following morning.
There is another bump on this day that there are noticeably EIGHT newspapers on the driveway when Paul and James pull up in the police cruiser and when Alex arrives home and sees the police cruiser outside. This would seem like another day took place between James robbing the house and coming back with Paul. But it just does not fit the timeline as this is definitely Saturday (if we believe Aunt Gladys’ statement at Marcus’ home – and he certainly says nothing to the contrary) and the next day is definitely Sunday. This is a bit of a continuity error – purposeful or not – or maybe one of the papers being counted is not a newspaper but rather mail.
Now some might argue that there is also ANOTHER day between this day and the final day of confrontation but I really don’t think so. I don’t think Justine and Archer would wait a day to investigate (and they are both wearing the same clothes from Saturday when they arrive in Archer’s pick-up at the Lily home the following day). I also don’t think that a police cruiser would go 36 HOURS outside of the Lily home without the police or someone else noticing (especially after the Marcus confrontation at the gas station). Frankly, the car sitting out there for even 12 hours is already stretching credulity.
DAY 8 – SUNDAY (MORNING)
Early on Sunday morning, Archer is getting treated at the hospital for the wounds suffered at the hands of the attacking Marcus. When he exits the hospital, he is met by Justine in the ER waiting room. The two finally share a moment after their shared trauma from the previous day and commiserate over their shared concern of the missing kids, realizing they both want to find the kids. Archer has the map and Justine has the knowledge of Alex’s house. And they head there together.
When they arrive at the Lily home early on Sunday, there are NINE newspapers when Justine and Archer show up. This is either an intentional miscues or I am counting the newspapers incorrectly, or the Lily’s get two papers on a Sunday. Either way, dawn is approaching but I think Cregger wants to fool the audience into thinking that it is night approaching here.
And I think that is why he does the cheat/continuity error of Alex arriving at the home and it being light outside when he finds both Paul and James possessed (I also think this is why he sets out too many newspapers – to intentionally obfuscate the timeline for the audience even further). It subconsciously leads the audience to thinking that this confrontation happened the night before – or the night after – when it clearly happens at daybreak on Sunday. But night approaching gives the audience a subconscious sense of dread.
But remember, Archer and Justine have just spent all night in the hospital. And Paul dragged James into the Lily home when it was already night. Again, having Paul’s cruiser there for anything more than 12 hours – after he presumably should have ended his shift long ago – is a real plot “ask” from the audience (and one that a few observant viewers have already bumped on). Anything longer than it being the next morning is too much.
So this is definitely the next morning – Sunday morning – and we are not going from light to darkness but rather darkness to light. Which is great, because Cregger is also retroactively seemingly signaling the end of Gladys’ reign through this dawn and the sunrise, even though the audience thinks it is turning to night.
It is on this final morning that Archer and Justine enter the Lily home and are attacked by the possessed Paul and James. Justine is able to shoot Paul and James, allowing Archer to find the kids in the basement (where he is attacked by Gladys) only to be turned to possessed himself and to attack Justine.
Simultaneously, Alex turns the 17 children against Aunt Gladys. Please note that during the chase it is morning, post-sunrise, and that families are eating breakfast (as they might on a Sunday). A man is mowing his lawn (as happens on the weekend). All giving proof that the climax of the film is Sunday morning, happening a week later from the beginning of the action, of Archer waking up in Matthew’s bedroom.
IN CONCLUSION
So what do you think? Can you now see how masterfully Zach Cregger tied all of these threads together for a unified emotional payoff? The structural breakdown helped me to appreciate why this film works emotionally, subconsciously, and how it (sort of) cheats but ultimately earns this emotional payoff. It’s really great work from Zach Cregger and why WEAPONS is the best American MOVIE of this decade.
Zach Cregger’s authorial prowess shines through in how he intricately weaves together diverse narrative threads, over multiple days, culminating in a profoundly unified emotional payoff. The meticulous structural breakdown of the film reveals the underlying genius that allows the narrative to resonate on a deep, subconscious level. While it might arguably employ certain narrative contrivances, these are ultimately justified and fully earned through the film’s powerful emotional impact. Cregger’s exceptional narrative craftsmanship solidifies WEAPONS’ position as a (and maybe “the”) standout American movie of this century.
No Scoops Club 