Weapons open the rooms of Friday August 8.
Zach Cregger made a splashing foray into horror with 2022 BarbarousA slow combustion that changes its full form of satisfactory twists and dark humor that has invited hairstyle questions about what can happen behind your neighbor’s door (or even, inside their basement.) His new film, weapons, can be rooted in similar themes, but Cregger has refined its touch here, sticking to an absolutely delicious and frightening blockbuster that never leaves it to touch.
A testimony of the power of a good hook, the weapons open by providing its central mystery: why almost 20 children, all of the same class in the small town of Maybrook, suddenly aroused a night, left their houses and disappear in the dark? Railed in tones of fire in the bottle, history has a feeling of urban myth, which is reinforced by an obsessive montage of children flowing in the street, arms directly by their side like small effective planes. Maybrook’s eyes naturally turn to the missing children’s teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), who has a checkered past when it comes to respecting the borders with her students; During a meeting between the parents, the teachers and the police, Justine is chased from the room following the accusations of one of the mourning fathers, Archer (Josh Brolin). All this is covered in the first minutes of arms, and this is the base which is revisited repeatedly on its execution time of 128 minutes. It is also each part of the plot that is careful to discuss without ruining all the intelligent turns that await us.
From this primordial starting point, weapons are deployed in the chapters that make a huge feeling of scope in time despite its relatively diminutive framework. Each segment takes its time to find out how the disappearances affected the life of the situation, and Cregger takes care to present the public to the characters in calm and personal wrestling moments. No one’s prospect seems to be important than that of others; What is revealed by these different points of view constantly makes us reassess our own vision of the greater situation of the weapon.
But also useful as the structure of the chapter consists in giving the characters a common depth level, CREGGER the dispute most effectively at tension by ratchet. Each chapter illuminating a new index or development, it establishes a powerful pattern: building on a fever height, then reset. But this tension does not disappear because we are suddenly instead of another character – it is being tilted later, to propel weapons to a conclusion that is satisfactory even if you manage to move where it is heading. The Congger pieces have set in motion in the foreground and in the background are perfectly implemented, and cascade through an unforgettable final which earns more than its large fireplace moments.
The Tonal Command Cregger shown in Barbarian is more concentrated this time. In this seamless patchwork of dark terror and black humor, each trip through a house or a dark neighborhood seems equally likely to pay with laughter or fear. And when Cregger chooses violence, he does not disappoint. There are a lot of moments worthy of squirming when sharp things go from the places they should not, or the characters slam and attack with a shocking brutality, but there are so many persistent photos on the dangers that are good to go to the characters. The result is a film that looks like Russian roulette for the senses. The confidence of Cregger in his own voice manifests itself in a character and a performance with particularly great results – to identify this character and the interpreter would ruin certain surprises, but it must be said that they run in a way with weapons at a certain point.
From top to bottom, the casting proves to be seen in the realization of the Tonal Highwire law of Cregger, with Julia Garner and Josh Brolin anchoring other focal points such as the director Marcus (Benedict Wong) and the city cop (Alden Ehrenreich). Justine is perhaps well intentioned, but she is poorly suited to the crisis in question: Garner highlights the paranoia and the nervousness of Justine, a fragility which is expert by her frank interactions with her more doubtful neighbors. Justine and Paul have a story that complicates their ability to make good choices together; Ehrenreich keeps this in the home throughout the chapter of Paul’s arms, skillfully playing the nuances of his changing personality.
It is during this segment that we meet another stage thief, the transitional drug addict James (Austin Abrams). Playing high of his rocker and nervous like hell, Abrams crosses some of the most crucial monuments on the set, offering some of the only moments of pure comedy in the film. Almost each of its lines laugh. Cary Christopher also deserves a mention for her wonderful performance as anXth, the only students of Justine not having disappeared. Alex is immersed in circumstances which are undoubtedly too heavy for someone his age, but Christopher admirably affirms with them.
Archer, meanwhile, is sitting in a comfortable place for Josh Brolin. The same man at hot temperature who publicly docks Justine is also a discouraged father who was sleeping in the bed of her disappeared son, frustrated by a slow police investigation which he exceeds little effort. Despite his many missteps, Archer remains easy to educate because Brolin leaves enough vulnerability and despair in his performance.
Cregger’s work is supported by each turn by the director of photography Larkin Seiple. Whether inside the houses or in the neighborhood, Seipiple is excellent for creating pockets of darkness and lines of view that could hide any threat on board. But Seipiple – better known for his work on All everywhere at the same time – is also very key in the sensitivity of Cregger, and creates a dynamic visual language which leaves enough space for visceral and classic horror imaging as well as Slapstick comic action flashes. There is a prosecution through a gas station which brings these two elements beautifully – an prolonged confrontation which borders the farce, but only until the aggressor catches his target and the reality breaks. of a real nightmare.
