August has long carried the reputation of being Hollywood’s cinematic dumping ground—a stigma that’s only deepened in the age of endless franchise IP. But the surprise $42 million opening of Weapons suggests that the late-summer movie season still has a pulse after all.
The film marks the follow-up to Zach Cregger’s breakout sleeper hit Barbarian and centers on a deeply unsettling premise: 17 children vanish after calmly walking out of their homes at exactly 2:17 a.m. What follows is less a straightforward horror story than a fractured portrait of a town in shock. Told through five overlapping vignettes, each from a different character’s perspective, Weapons plays like a Gothic, small-town Rashomon—a grim inversion of the cozy Americana usually reserved for Hallmark movies.
One of the film’s biggest strengths is its cast. Josh Brolin brings real gravity to a grieving father, Benedict Wong is memorably intense as a school principal trying to hold things together, and Julia Garner delivers a raw turn as the troubled teacher whose class disappears. Cregger clearly prioritizes character over carnage, and that grounding makes the horror hit harder when it arrives.
What really stood out to me was how grounded everything feels. The performances are strong and natural, so even when things start getting dark and strange, you’re invested in the people, not just the plot. Small moments—looks, pauses, awkward silences—end up being just as unsettling as the bigger beats.
From a craft standpoint, the movie is super confident. The visuals are moody without being flashy, and the sound design quietly keeps you on edge without screaming for attention. The story also unfolds in a really smart way, giving you just enough information to stay hooked while still leaving plenty to chew on afterward.
Even with those shortcomings, Weapons stands out as a studio horror film that’s actually trying to do something interesting. It may not reach the instant-classic status of Hereditary or Us, but it’s smarter, bolder, and more ambitious than most of its recent competition—and for August, that alone feels like a small victory.
Weapons is now playing in theaters.
