One of the earliest film reviews I ever wrote on this site was for Barbarian in 2022. Barbarian still stands as one of my favorite horror film experiences of the 2020s so far. Its razor-thin-wire-walk of crushing claustrophobic scares balanced by hilarious dark comedy is still striking three years after its release, and it set certain expectations for Weapons.
Weapons is a new horror film written and directed by Zach Cregger, the writer and director of Barbarian. Zach Cregger is also one of the founding members of the comedy sketch group The Whitest Kids U Know, and Barbarian’s breakout success in 2022 has clearly raised his ambitions as a filmmaker. Weapons is a bigger movie than Barbarian in every way, from the size of its cast to the length of its runtime.
The high points of Weapons easily surpass Barbarian, but Barbarian’s more contained scope makes it far more even overall. Weapons’ scope is both a blessing and a curse, but if you’re going to make an uneven movie, it never hurts to end with your best material, and Weapons manages to do just that.
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