Weapons is a 2025 American mystery horror film written, produced, and directed by Zach Cregger. The film stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan. Its plot follows the mysterious case of seventeen children from the same classroom who mysteriously run away on the same night, having been apparently abducted by an unseen force.
Weapons was first released in the Philippines on August 6, 2025, and was then released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 8, 2025. The film received critical acclaim.
Plot[]
At 2:17 A.M. in Maybrook, seventeen children from the same class simultaneously leave their homes and vanish. Their teacher, Justine Gandy, arrives in the morning to find only one student, Alex Lilly, present. A police investigation is launched. Alex and Justine are interviewed, but no leads are found in the investigation.
The school's principal, Andrew Marcus, places Justine on leave under pressure from the community, who believe she played a role in the children vanishing. Depressed, she resorts to drinking heavily while resuming her relationship with ex-boyfriend and police officer Paul Morgan. Justine begins experiencing nightmares about the missing children and a strange woman. Concerned about Alex's wellbeing, Justine follows him home and witnesses Alex's parents seated in a daze. Justine insists that Andrew perform a wellness check. While Justine is asleep in her car outside, a woman exits the house and cuts off a lock of Justine's hair.
Meanwhile, Archer Graff, the father of one of the missing children, struggles to cope after his son's disappearance and has similar nightmares to Justine. Frustrated by the ineffective police investigation, Archer decides to investigate himself. He discovers the missing children were running in the same general direction but is unable to find a specific location.
Earlier, Paul had a run-in with James, a local drug addict. Paul assaults James after being poked by a needle during a search and orders him to leave town. Stressed over the potential backlash that James can bring by filing a complaint, Paul spirals. He breaks his sobriety and has a one-night stand with Justine. Following the assault, James breaks into Alex's house, believing it has been abandoned. Inside, he witnesses Alex's parents in a trance-like state and finds the missing children in the basement. He goes to the police with his information, seeking a cash reward. Paul spots James approaching the station and gives chase. James flees into the woods, where he spots the woman from Justine and Archer's nightmares. Paul catches James and drives to Alex's house, leaving James in the car while he enters. Hours later, James is dragged into the house by a possessed Paul.
Andrew is visited at school by Alex's great-aunt, Gladys, who claims that she is now acting as a caretaker for the family. Andrew insists that he must meet with Alex's parents. Later, Gladys visits Andrew and his husband, Terry, at their home. Performing a ritual, Gladys possesses Andrew and has him kill Terry before sending him after Justine. Andrew attacks Justine at the gas station. She flees in her car and Andrew is fatally struck by another car while chasing her. Justine and Archer reconcile and realize the children were moving in the direction of Alex's house.
Flashbacks divulge Alex and his parents welcoming the severely ill Gladys to their home. Alex notices a strange potted tree in Gladys' room. Returning home from school one day, Alex encounters a rejuvenated Gladys and his parents, who are now in a trance. Gladys threatens to kill his parents if Alex ever tells anyone about her. Alex witnesses Gladys performing witchcraft with the tree and is tasked with feeding his parents. She requests Alex's help to gather a personal item from each of his classmates, so she can possess them too. Alex agrees, hoping she will leave Maybrook once her health improves. The following night, she summons the children to Alex's home. Alex later returns home from school to encounter a possessed Paul and James.
Both Justine and Archer visit Alex's house, where Paul and James attack them. Meanwhile, Alex is pursued by his parents after disobeying Gladys. Justine shoots Paul and James dead with Paul's gun. After escaping into Gladys's room, Alex copies the ritual he watched Gladys perform, using a lock of her hair. Gladys' control over the children breaks as she becomes their target. Following a chase through several homes, the escaped children catch up to her and kill her by tearing her apart. With Gladys' death, the spell is broken and Archer rushes to reunite with his son. The victims were left catatonic from their possession and Alex moves in with another aunt after his parents were institutionalized. The children are returned to their families, and some of them eventually begin to speak again.
Cast[]
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Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, and Amy Madigan play Archer, Justine, and Gladys respectively
- Josh Brolin as Archer Graff, the father of Matthew, one of the missing children.[5]
- Julia Garner as Justine Gandy, a teacher who finds that all but one of the students in her class has vanished.[5]
- Cary Christopher as Alex Lilly, the only child from Justine's class who did not disappear.
- Alden Ehrenreich as Paul Morgan, a police officer who has a complicated relationship with Justine.[5]
- Austin Abrams as James, a homeless drug addict and burglar.
- Benedict Wong as Andrew Marcus, the school principal.
- Amy Madigan as Gladys Lilly, Alex's great-aunt.
- Toby Huss as Ed Locke, the police captain and Donna's father.
- June Diane Raphael as Donna Morgan, Paul's wife.
- Whitmer Thomas as Mr. Lilly, Alex's loving father.
- Callie Schuttera as Mrs. Lilly, Alex's loving mother.
- Clayton Farris as Terry Marcus, Andrew’s husband.
- Luke Speakman as Matthew Graff, Archer's son and one of Justine's missing students, who bullies Alex.
- Scarlett Sher as the child narrator of the film.
Production[]
Zach Cregger auctioned the rights to the film's script for $38 million.
After the financial and critical success of his film Barbarian (2022), Zach Cregger began work on a new spec script titled Weapons. It has been described as a "horror epic" with a more "personal story" for the filmmaker, partly inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson's film Magnolia (1999) and Jennifer Egan's novel A Visit from the Goon Squad.[5][6] Cregger was inspired to write the screenplay after the death of his close friend and collaborator, Trevor Moore.[7][8] The screenplay entered the market on January 22, 2023, and prompted a bidding war among Netflix, New Line Cinema, TriStar Pictures and Universal Pictures.[9][10] According to Cregger, the script was given through the software app Embershot to the studios on January 23, 2023 at 8:00 A.M., and by 9:30 A.M., Michael De Luca, CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures, contacted him to close the deal.[6] New Line secured the rights within 24 hours after offering $38 million to cover all costs, including production and salaries, with Cregger receiving $10 million as writer, director, and producer and final cut privilege (pending test screening reactions to the film) in addition to a guaranteed theatrical release.[9] Universal offered $7 million less than Warner Brothers.[11] Jordan Peele, whose company Monkeypaw Productions participated in the bidding war in conjunction with Universal, parted ways with longtime managers Joel Zadak and Peter Principato, the latter of whom was also Cregger's manager, after losing the auction.[12]
Between May and July 2023, Pedro Pascal, Renate Reinsve, Brian Tyree Henry, Austin Abrams, Tom Burke, and June Diane Raphael were cast in the film.[13][14][15] However, as a result of production delays and the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Pascal, Reinsve, Henry, and Burke had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts;[16] Pascal, in particular, had to exit the film for running against his commitment with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).
In February 2024, Josh Brolin joined the cast to replace Pascal.[17] In April, Julia Garner (replacing Reinsve) and Alden Ehrenreich (replacing Burke) joined the cast.[18][19] In May, Benedict Wong (replacing Henry), Amy Madigan and Cary Christopher were announced to have joined the cast.[20][21] Principal photography was scheduled to begin in Atlanta in May 2024.[18]
Music[]
The soundtrack to Weapons was released by Warner Records on August 1, 2025. The soundtrack contains 36 tracks composed by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, and the director Zach Cregger.[22][23]
| Weapons (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
| Film score by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, Zach Cregger | |
| Released | August 1, 2025 |
| Length | 42:14 |
| Label | Warner |
Track listing[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maddie" | 1:44 |
| 2. | "Main Theme" | 1:59 |
| 3. | "Who's There?" | 0:38 |
| 4. | "Following" | 0:47 |
| 5. | "Newspaper" | 1:25 |
| 6. | "Don't You Find It Odd?" | 1:02 |
| 7. | "What Could've Happened" | 0:56 |
| 8. | "Nightmares" | 0:33 |
| 9. | "Snip" | 1:21 |
| 10. | "Daybreak" | 0:41 |
| 11. | "Troubled Person" | 1:04 |
| 12. | "Where Are You?" | 4:16 |
| 13. | "Map" | 1:00 |
| 14. | "Waiting Game" | 0:49 |
| 15. | "Gasoline" | 1:11 |
| 16. | "Stop Right There" | 0:51 |
| 17. | "Serious Hot Water" | 1:01 |
| 18. | "Donna" | 1:00 |
| 19. | "James" | 1:13 |
| 20. | "Room to Room" | 1:51 |
| 21. | "What Did I Tell You?" | 0:50 |
| 22. | "On a Mission" | 0:45 |
| 23. | "Drag" | 0:30 |
| 24. | "I Think She Cut My Hair" | 2:45 |
| 25. | "Gasoline II" | 1:40 |
| 26. | "Homesickness" | 1:57 |
| 27. | "Are You Watching?" | 0:27 |
| 28. | "Campbell's" | 1:47 |
| 29. | "If I Got Better" | 1:37 |
| 30. | "Nametag" | 1:07 |
| 31. | "The Flight" | 3:42 |
| 32. | "Into the Lair" | 2:12 |
| 33. | "One Shot" | 0:57 |
| 34. | "Locked" | 1:21 |
| 35. | "Swarm (feat. Mary Lattimore)" | 1:32 |
| 36. | "I Found You" | 2:32 |
| Total length: | 42:14 | |
Release[]
Weapons premiered in Los Angeles on July 31, 2025, prior to being released in the Philippines on August 6, 2025, and in the United States on August 8, 2025.[24] It was originally scheduled to be released on January 16, 2026.[25]
Reception[]
Box office[]
In the United States and Canada, Weapons was released alongside Freakier Friday and Sketch, and is projected to gross $25–40 million from 3,200 theaters in its opening weekend.[11][26]
Weapons grossed $5.7 million in Thursday box office previews, ahead of expected weekend winner Freakier Friday.[27][28]
Critical response[]
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 205/10. On the website, the critics' consensus reads, "Zach Cregger spins an expertly crafted yarn of terrifying mystery and thrilling intrigue in Weapons, a sophomore triumph that solidifies his status as a master of horror." Using a weighted average calculator, Metacritic assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Empire's John Nugent gave the film a perfect 5 stars out of 5 rating, and wrote, "The entire film, in fact, is something that shouldn't work, but does. Can a film about missing children and grief be called a crowd-pleaser? In Zach Cregger's hands, it feels almost effortless."[29] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3.8 stars out of 4, calling it superior follow-up to Barbarian while stating, "One of the greatest strengths of Cregger's ambitious script is its abject refusal to connect every dot in the manner that so much "elevated horror" has done in recent years. Still, it's not overly difficult to read the inciting incident of Weapons as a school shooting allegory."[30] Variety's Peter Debruge praised the film, and wrote, "Regardless of how you feel about the bittersweet ending (and many will happily embrace the movie's darkly comic bittersweet finale), Cregger has achieved something remarkable here, crafting a cruel and twisted bedtime story of the sort the Brothers Grimm might have spun — not the kid-friendly Disney version, mind you, but the kind where characters kill on command and audiences find it difficult to sleep afterward."[31] Tim Grierson of Screen Daily noted that "Cregger does terrific work answering the riddles he has teased throughout the runtime" while further stating, "Weapons gracefully balances its different tensions, all of them cathartically released during the superbly orchestrated, graphically violent final 20 minutes."[32] Charles Pulliam-Moore of The Verge praised the film's themes, writing: one of Weapons’ more impressive feats is the way it builds on that contentious dynamic to make a point about how communities often conjure up convenient boogeymen to blame, rather than confronting the things that actually endanger children."[33]
Tom Jorgensen of IGN gave the film score of 9 out of 10 and wrote, "Weapons is a righteous, fully actualized genre-bender in which writer-director Zach Cregger hones Barbarian's blend of unbearable tension and dark humor to a new level of razor-sharpness."[34] Mark Kennedy of Associated Press awarded the film with 4.5 stars out of 5, and wrote, "If Barbarian came out of left field three years ago and heralded an exciting new voice in filmmaking, Weapons doesn't disappoint but it doesn't have the advantage of surprise."[35]
William Bibbiani of TheWrap gave a less positive review, finding the film's resolution "a lot less frightening, and a lot more contrived, than it would have had [Cregger] not invited us to ponder more powerful possibilities for over an hour before tipping his hand." He nevertheless praised the cast, particularly Brolin and Garner, for doing "difficult, layered work", and the cinematography for "find[ing] the eeriest camera angle in damn near every scene, whether it’s overtly shocking or insidiously banal."[36]
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ Weapons (18). BBFC (2025-07-28).
- ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 7, 2025). Sony Boards Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil', Sets Fall 2026 Release Date.
- ↑ Template:Cite The Numbers
- ↑ Template:Cite Box Office Mojo
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Romano, Nick (April 28, 2025). "Weapons first look: Barbarian director makes his 'horror epic' with Julia Garner and Josh Brolin (exclusive)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 29, 2025. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Galuppo, Mia (August 8, 2025). ‘Weapons’ Director Zach Cregger on Bidding Wars, Casting Re-Dos and His Personal Connection to the Film’s Final Chapter.
- ↑ Weapons first look: Barbarian director makes his 'horror epic' with Julia Garner and Josh Brolin (28 April 2025).
- ↑ Patches, Matt (2025-08-03). Zach Cregger is still grieving. That’s why he made Weapons (en).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Kit, Borys (January 25, 2023). New Line Wins Intense Auction for Weapons, the New Movie From Barbarian Filmmaker Zach Cregger.
- ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr (January 25, 2023). New Line Lands Hot Package Weapons; Barbarian's Zach Cregger To Helm His Script.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 5, 2025). 'Weapons' To Freak Out 'Freakier Friday' At The Weekend Box Office – Preview.
- ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 2, 2023). Behind The Scenes Of Zach Cregger's Extraordinary 'Weapons' Auction & Its Aftermath: The Dish.
- ↑ Kit, Borys (May 9, 2023). Pedro Pascal to Star in Weapons, the New Movie From Barbarian Filmmaker Zach Cregger (Exclusive).
- ↑ Renate Reinsve, Star of The Worst Person in the World, Joins Pedro Pascal in Weapons (May 22, 2023).
- ↑ Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons’ Casts Pedro Pascal, Brian Tyree Henry and Austin Burke
- ↑ Why Pedro Pascal isn't in Weapons — and more about the cast that almost was (exclusive)
- ↑ Kit, Borys (February 21, 2024). Josh Brolin in Talks to Star in Zach Cregger's Horror Thriller Weapons (Exclusive).
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Kit, Borys (April 24, 2024). Julia Garner Joins Josh Brolin in Zach Cregger's Horror Thriller Weapons.
- ↑ Grobar, Matt (April 29, 2024). Alden Ehrenreich Joins New Line Horror Thriller Weapons From Zach Cregger.
- ↑ Grobar, Matt (2 May 2024). Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Austin Abrams & Cary Christopher Round Out Cast Of New Line's Weapons.
- ↑ Grobar, Matt (May 17, 2024). June Diane Raphael Joins New Line's Weapons.
- ↑ Weapons (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay & Zach Cregger on Apple Music (en-GB) (2025-08-01).
- ↑ Pilley, Max (2025-08-08). Every song on the 'Weapons' soundtrack (en-GB).
- ↑ McClintock, Pamela (March 19, 2025). Maggie Gyllenhaal's 'The Bride' Moves Out of 2025, Paul Thomas Anderson's Next Movie Pushed to Late September.
- ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 14, 2024). Warner Bros. Dates 'Mortal Kombat 2' & 'Companion' For 2025; Zach Cregger's 'Weapons' For 2026.
- ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (August 6, 2025). Box Office: 'Freakier Friday' and 'Weapons' Battle for First Place Over 'Fantastic Four'.
- ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Moreau, Jordan (August 8, 2025). "Box Office: 'Weapons' Makes $5.7 Million in Previews, 'Freakier Friday' Has $3.1 Million". Variety. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 8, 2025). "'Weapons' Hitting $5M+, 'Freakier Friday' $3M In Previews – Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ↑ Weapons review: Zach Cregger's latest is a significant step up from Barbarian (en) (2025-08-06).
- ↑ Weapons movie review & film summary (2025) | Roger Ebert (en-US).
- ↑ Debruge, Peter (2025-08-05). 'Weapons' Review: The Kids Are Far From All Right in a Hypnotic Horror Mystery That Pits Parents Against Teachers (en-US).
- ↑ Grierson, Tim. 'Weapons' review: Julia Garner and Josh Brolin lead 'Barbarian' filmmaker's inventive new horror (en).
- ↑ Pulliam-Moore, Charles (2025-08-07). Weapons turns our deepest anxieties into a potent horror masterpiece (en-US).
- ↑ Jorgensen, Tom (2025-07-30). Weapons Review (en).
- ↑ Movie Review: Why did 17 kids vanish at 2:17 a.m.? Zach Cregger's 'Weapons' delves into the mystery (en) (2025-08-05).
- ↑ Bibbiani, William (2025-08-06). 'Weapons' Review: Zach Cregger's Chiller Asks Scary Questions (Too Bad About the Answers) (en-US).
External links[]
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