After giving people Airbnb nightmares in his claustrophobic debut Barbarian, director Zach Cregger returns to the horror genre with Weapons. This time, the former sketch comedian explores a sleepy suburb that is scarred with the mass disappearance of 17 elementary school children who wake up one night, leave home and don’t come back.
Narrated from multiple POVs, the plot thickens when all these children belong to the same classroom. The community is naturally suspicious of class teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) until the slow-burning dread gives way to something more sinister, darkly funny, and creatively gory with a third act that can be best described as absolutely bonkers.
So, if Weapons left you curling your toes and squinting your eyes, then these riveting cult classics and modern genre favourites will keep you hooked.
Mom & Dad (2017)
Remember The Shining? Now, imagine if all the parents in the world matched Jack Nicholson’s unhinged rage. Throw in Nicolas Cage’s natural madcap energy in the mix too, and voila, you have the blood-red concoction called Mom & Dad. The premise is simple: a plague has turned every parent against their child, running after their younglings with murderous intent. While this 2017 black comedy lacks the subtle wit and parental concern of Weapons, both films touch upon the anxieties of children in precarious scenarios, facing uncertain fears from their own guardians.
M (1931)
When a serial child murderer is wreaking havoc, a sleepy town wakes up with desperate parents and anxious law enforcers. Fritz Lang’s timeless classic M set a template for mass hysteria that defined the ‘child gone missing’ genre for decades. There’s the lust for mob justice, the mild-mannered suspect, and an uncomfortable resolution that offers more grief than peace. The collective fear in M translates well into Weapons, with Julia Garner’s schoolteacher dragged into a witch hunt and devastated parents taking matters into their own hands.
The Vanishing (1988)
Ignore the Hollywood remake and stick to George Sluizer’s Dutch original. As its title suggests, The Vanishing picks up from the disappearance of a woman and her boyfriend’s desperate attempt to find her. However, all possibilities of a straightforward kidnapping thriller fade away when we are also led into the POV of the possible perpetrator. With Weapons employing six different perspectives around an astonishing vanishing, this gut-wrenching mystery makes for a fitting (albeit grimly unsettling) next watch.
Hereditary (2018)
Pagan history meets dysfunctional family drama in Ari Aster’s deeply disturbing debut, Hereditary. Toni Collette plays a grieving mother who must not only deal with a crumbling family but also some dark secrets behind her own ancestry. While Weapons is more adrenaline-fuelled, it still shares the same DNA as Hereditary, especially in terms of unnerving dinner table conversations, parents on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and a ritualistic mythology that leaves permanent scars.
It Follows (2014)
In the suburbs of Detroit, a young girl’s sexual awakening turns into a twisted game of tag. As genre queen Maika Monroe’s Jay gets stalked by a sexually transmitted curse, It Follows evolves from just a raunchy gag to a modern horror classic, one that taps into our primal anxieties while drawing a chuckle or two. The tonal balance, the flawed yet empathetic heroine, and a younger and then-unknown David Robert Mitchell’s sudden ascension to horror auteur status make It Follows still a worthwhile horror to revisit.
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
A bus crash kills 14 children in one go. How do the parents cope with their loss? And how do the survivors of this freak accident live with themselves? The Sweet Hereafter promises few easy answers, but it provides enough food for thought to ponder upon real-world tragedies that can unexpectedly shatter our world in a second. Weapons might have its fair share of dark humour but it also has its moments of genuine grief and trauma, themes that only resonate deeply in Atom Egoyan’s meditative drama.
Prisoners (2013)
Long before Denis Villeneuve created desert worlds in Dune, he helmed one of the grittiest abduction thrillers ever with Prisoners. Starring Hugh Jackman in full form, this unsettling tragedy follows the kidnapping of two girls and the desperate attempts by a man who takes the law into his own hands. Jake Gyllenhaal’s disillusioned cop adds emotional complexity to a slow-burning premise that spirals down ever darker paths. If Josh Brolin’s performance as a sorrowful and vengeful dad in Weapons kept you on the edge, then Prisoners should be your next anxiety-inducing watch.
Read our verdict on Weapons here.
The 100 greatest horror movies ever made.
