Weapons (2025)

The critic calls it one of the best horror movies of the year and possibly the best comedy, hailing its wildly creepy, bleakly hilarious invention and satisfying final reel that ties up the knotty narrative. They single out the playful, unexpected path and the way it packs playfulness and invention for praise.

The critic hails the film as a wildly satisfying genre epic and antidote to recent trauma-focused horror, praising its ambitious cross between domestic horror and sketch comedy.

The critic calls it a hugely accomplished horror achievement and significant step up from Barbarian. They single out the masterful balancing of serious themes with scares, humour and a cathartic, well-staged finale.

The critic hails the film as gorgeous, terrifying and the best thriller of the year, praising its remarkable handling of the story of disappearing children.

The critic calls it a spellbinding, disorderly mystery that layers overlapping perspectives to reveal the truth piecemeal. Cregger excels at fusing the ordinary with the outrageous and leaves viewers with potent unanswered questions.

The critic calls it a delightfully nasty, bold, funny, and endlessly scary follow-up that spirals from unimaginable loss with clever mystery, likable characters, and playful horror.

The critic hails it as an unnerving, riveting and thunderously entertaining horror epic that more than delivers on its promise with a propulsive, perfectly paced thriller structure. They single out the deft juggling of tones, including black humour and camp, along with the brilliant reveal for praise.

The critic praises the film’s eerie storytelling, strong performances and command of sensation while highlighting its depiction of US blame culture and community breakdown as particularly effective.

The critic calls it a deranged horror that ramps up from eerie suburban drama to a twisted tale of mass child disappearance, delivering a knockout finale that is twisted, hilarious and savage.

The critic finds the film a twisty-turny hoot that navigates an unnerving middle way between metaphor and piffle, with an oblique structure enhancing dread and a charmingly ridiculous direction.

The critic praises Cregger's skill at sustaining an ominous mood in a horror film centered on missing children. The narrative structure and delayed reveals build tension effectively around the central mystery.

The critic praises the film's expert craft, atmospheric style, strong cast, and chapter structure but finds it ultimately lacking in psychological depth or substance, more consistently weird than scary.

The review highlights the hypnotic, multi-perspective structure that keeps imaginations engaged for most of the runtime. While the ending narrows the mystery's scope, Cregger crafts a twisted, memorable bedtime story with strong performances and atmosphere.

The critic praises the luminous visuals, jarringly funny moments and hyper-eerie mood but complains that the horror turns hokey and the film has the depth of a puddle despite its ambition.

The critic finds the film’s strong start and effective scares undermined by scattered ideas and a tendency to fall back on familiar territory from the director’s previous work. They single out the spiky humour and Amy Madigan’s scene-stealing turn for praise while complaining that the big reveal and overall approach feel like a rehash.

The critic finds Cregger’s follow-up an initially ambitious yet ultimately simplistic ensemble horror that offers jolting moments but lacks substance and depth.

The critic notes the blend of horror and comedy succeeds overall with grounded characters and invoked social issues, though some fake-outs and the climax's comedy undercut tension.

The review finds the film a conventional but slick mystery that ultimately reduces its unsettling premise to a gross-out joke and superficial effects. Cregger's approach misses deeper resonances in favor of predictable genre thrills.

The critic describes an intricately plotted, supremely twisty horror thriller that takes its time laying out an elaborate story before the myriad strands come together in immensely satisfying fashion. They single out the gripping final chapter that delivers sustained terrors while noting the puzzle-box plot risks the mystery outshining the payoff.

The critic praises Cregger’s elaborate, mosaic-structured follow-up to Barbarian as a deliberately tricky gruesome puzzle-box horror that justifies its length through its labyrinthine path from puzzlement to understanding. They single out Amy Madigan’s startlingly eccentric turn as Aunt Gladys for leavening the horror with absurdist comedy while delivering jolts.

The critic calls it a twisted, funny, and scary suburban nightmare that blends horror and humor effectively while tapping into modern fears. They single out the ensemble structure and macabre finale for praise.

The critic praises Cregger for balancing horror and comedy perfectly in an ambitious, inventive film that may be the best horror of 2025. They single out the multi-perspective structure, tense direction, and standout performances from the ensemble, especially Amy Madigan.

The critic says Cregger outdoes himself with a more conventional yet unpredictable horror drama that delivers a satisfying payoff, eerie imagery, and effective scares. They single out the multiple-POV structure inspired by Magnolia and the atmospheric, momentum-maintaining direction.

Cregger delivers another impressive horror mystery with a brilliant ensemble led by Garner and Brolin. The film stands out for its creepy atmosphere, strong performances, and layered storytelling that builds on the director's previous work.

The review praises Cregger's follow-up to Barbarian as a ruthlessly diabolical and twisted studio thriller that cleverly reveals its American Gothic mystery. It singles out the novelistic puzzle-box structure, tonal mashup, and uniformly excellent performances for particular commendation.

The critic commends Cregger's sharper comic-horror instincts and the film's brutal, engrossing exploration of loss, paranoia, and social rot in a small town. They single out the chapter structure, ensemble chemistry between Garner and Brolin, and its wicked folk-horror spin.