Weapons

Weapons is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Zach Cregger, his hotly anticipated follow-up to the 2022 breakout Barbarian. Produced by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros., the film confirmed Cregger's reputation as one of the most distinctive new voices in American horror, trading conventional scares for a dread-soaked mystery told through interlocking chapters that gradually assemble into a single nightmarish picture.

The story begins with an impossible event: seventeen children from the same third-grade class rise from their beds at exactly 2:17 a.m. and run out into the dark, never to be seen again — all except one. As a grieving father (Josh Brolin) mounts his own investigation and the children's teacher (Julia Garner) becomes the town's prime suspect, the film shifts between perspectives, each chapter deepening the unease. Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, and a scene-stealing Amy Madigan round out the ensemble.

Made for a modest budget, Weapons became one of the year's genuine phenomena, grossing well over $250 million worldwide and earning near-universal acclaim, with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score and an A-minus CinemaScore. Critics hailed Cregger as a bona fide horror auteur and singled out the film's audacious structure and its unforgettable, folkloric menace, cementing it as one of the most talked-about genre films of 2025.