Weapons (2025)
It is not often my opinion of a film changes so drastically throughout. I was really into it from the start, with its creepy unsettling premise of kids running away with no apparent reason in the middle of the night. It seemed somewhat grounded in reality with a believable depiction of the immediate aftermath, with the parents unjustifiable yet understandable urge to find a scapegoat. That whole thing tapped into the underlying fear most parents have when they leave their kids in someone else’s care.
Everything was nicely setup for an intriguing mystery. Then the film started to go on a tangent with switching viewpoint showing events from a previous hidden angle, to basically fill in the blanks. But in that process the creepy mystery falls apart with explaining too much and goes straight to madness ending on a completely different note than where it started. In its own right, how it ends is completely bonkers and funny for what it is worth. I was just disappointed that it ruined what it started. While they do try to explain it, I was not convinced that a months of police couldn’t have done what a single parent could do with a map and a ruler.
I can see it is possible to see all kinds of themes and commentaries in this, especially as it clearly is about weaponising children, I am just not seeing much interesting here. Many seem to point to school shootings, but that is only surface level if at all. If I were to stretch it, I would say that maybe there could be something about the concept of “think of the children” is being misused, but I am really not seeing anything deep or thought provoking with how this film ultimately unfolded.
I have a hard time rating is, as I probably started at 4 and ended and 2. Being both entertained, impressed, annoyed and disappointed.
Rating: 3