 starring Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher & Benedict Wong in this chilling horror-mystery about 17 missing children.){kind=link}
Directed by Zach Cregger.
Weapons (2025) was released in theaters on August 8, 2025.
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Movie Review
“Weapons” drops you into a suburban nightmare at 2:17 a.m., when seventeen third-graders vanish and a town’s nerves fray.
Zach Cregger sharpens his taste for genre mischief into a darker, more disciplined horror, using fragmented chapters, precise camerawork, and an unnerving score to hold tension.
Julia Garner gives a raw, haunted central turn as a teacher bearing the film’s moral weight. Josh Brolin channels exhausted grief while Alden Ehrenreich offers brittle, unpredictable energy.
Amy Madigan is chilling as a figure whose motives keep shifting. The screenplay balances social satire and surreal dread, moving between quiet domestic dread and audacious, grotesque set pieces.
At times the film flirts with excess, but its bold imagery, strong ensemble, and refusal to hand viewers neat answers make it unforgettable.
It demands patience, rewards close attention, and cements Cregger as a daring voice in contemporary horror who embraces risk and emotional truth and lasting impact.
Ratings
• IMDb: 7.9/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
• Google Audience Score: 83% liked this movie.
Weapons 2025 Actors
Julia Garner as Justine Gandy
DOB: February 1, 1994.
Bio: Julia Garner is a Riverdale-born actress celebrated for her Emmy-winning turn as Ruth Langmore in Ozark, along with acclaimed performances in The Assistant and Inventing Anna, earning her expansive industry recognition.
Her early work includes Martha Marcy May Marlene, and she has steadily distinguished herself with emotionally rich and compelling roles.
Role: Justine Gandy emerges as a pivotal adult character entangled in the central mystery surrounding missing schoolchildren.
Her portrayal brings depth, empathy, and an intense emotional presence to the unfolding narrative.
What to Expect: A layered, emotionally raw performance that balances grief, suspicion and moral urgency.
Favorite Things: Garner embraces creative collaboration and preparation. In interviews she has noted her love for indie film sets and in-depth rehearsal processes, methods that fuel her immersive performances.
Notable Works: Ozark, Inventing Anna, The Assistant, Martha Marcy May Marlene.
Josh Brolin as Archer Graff
DOB: February 12, 1968.
Bio: Josh Brolin is a seasoned American actor who has seamlessly transitioned from youthful breakout roles to leading dramatic performances.
Born in Santa Monica and raised on a California ranch, he made his debut in The Goonies (1985).
His career resurgence came with No Country for Old Men (2007), earning both critical praise and ensemble awards.
Role: Archer Graff is a central adult figure whose well-hidden decisions and secrets deepen the film’s sense of dread.
What to Expect: Physical presence, terse authority and a performance that lets small gestures carry big weight.
Favorite Things: Off-screen, Brolin enjoys fishing and cherishes the quiet privacy of ranch life (In a candid profile, he reflected on sobriety and stability gained through a quieter life after a turbulent upbringing).
Notable Works: No Country for Old Men, Milk, Sicario, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Dune.
Alden Ehrenreich as Paul
DOB: November 22, 1989.
Bio: Alden Ehrenreich is an American actor from Los Angeles, known for his emotionally nuanced performances and artistic range.
He gained early attention working with directors like Francis Ford Coppola in Tetro (2009) and Twixt (2011), then broke through in Joel and Ethan Coen’s Hail, Caesar! (2016).
Role: Paul is a troubled cop whose personal demons and involvement in the investigation pull him into the core of the film’s haunting mystery.
What to Expect: A gritty, emotionally charged performance with messy edges and moral ambiguity.
Favorite Things: He is drawn to auteur-led cinema and has taken an active role in creative community spaces, recently spearheading the transformation of a Los Angeles arts venue into a nonprofit theater hub.
Notable Works: Hail, Caesar!, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Fair Play, Cocaine Bear, Oppenheimer.
Austin Abrams as James
DOB: September 2, 1996.
Bio: Austin Abrams, born and raised in Sarasota, Florida, began acting in childhood with roles in regional theater and student films.
He gained recognition on television with recurring roles as Ron Anderson in The Walking Dead and Ethan Daley in Euphoria.
Role: James is part of the film’s ensemble of adults whose interwoven relationships add complexity to the investigation, elevating the emotional stakes of the central plot.
What to Expect: Nuanced, modern supporting work that grounds the film’s emotional stakes.
Favorite Things: He has spoken in interviews about his preference for indie films and layered roles that allow exploration of nuanced modern characters (reflections drawn from his project choices).
Notable Works: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Do Revenge, Paper Towns, Chemical Hearts, Euphoria.
Cary Christopher as Alex Lilly
DOB: May 6, 2016.
Bio: A young performer already on the rise, Cary Christopher has built a resume of TV guest spots and earned attention for this chilling, central child performance.
People ran an on-set profile praising his professionalism.
Role: Alex Lilly is the only child from the third-grade class who did not disappear in the mysterious mass disappearance.
His trauma, memory, and the secrets he holds are the emotional and narrative pivot of the film
What to Expect: Brave, unnerving acting from a child performer who carries much of the film’s emotional weight.
Favorite Things: He plays Little League baseball, soccer, and practices karate, though he says baseball games make him more nervous than auditions.
Notable Works: Days of Our Lives; guest roles in 9-1-1, NCIS, American Horror Stories, Fuller House; film debut in Weapons.
Benedict Wong as Marcus
DOB: July 3, 1971.
Bio: Benedict Wong is an English actor from Eccles, Lancashire, with a career rooted in theatre and enriched by award-nominated performances on stage and screen.
He first garnered attention in Dirty Pretty Things (2002), earning a British Independent Film Award nomination, then gained wider acclaim with roles in Marco Polo (as Kublai Khan), The Martian, and as Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Doctor Strange (2016)
Role: Marcus is a professional whose expertise becomes vital to the unfolding investigation. Wong brings the character a grounded moral clarity that anchors high-stakes moments.
What to Expect: Commanding, thoughtful work that anchors complicated scenes.
Favorite Things: Wong frequently speaks about his theater origins and craft-based character work, emphasizing emotional authenticity in every role.
Notable Works: Doctor Strange (and multiple MCU sequels), The Martian, Marco Polo, Dirty Pretty Things, 3 Body Problem.
Amy Madigan as Gladys
DOB: September 11, 1950.
Bio: Amy Madigan is a celebrated American character actress with a career spanning stage, television, and film.
She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Places in the Heart (1984), where her emotional intensity was widely praised.
Role: Gladys is a chilling and ambiguous figure whose unsettling presence disrupts the calm of the town.
Madigan’s portrayal draws on her ability to humanize the eerie, delivering an antagonist who is both disturbing and compellingly multi-dimensional.
What to Expect: A performance that is equal parts chilling and human, anchored by subtle physical choices.
Favorite Things: Madigan has often spoken of her deep affinity for theater, her commitment to character development, and her devotion to storytelling through the craft of acting.
Notable Works: Places in the Heart (Oscar-nominated), Field of Dreams, Carnivàle, Twice in a Lifetime.
Scarlett Sher as Narrator
DOB: N/A
Bio: Scarlett Sher is a young New York–based actress and voice artist who began performing in regional theater before transitioning to screen roles.
She made her Broadway debut in Waitress (2019) as Lulu, and has appeared in films like Hustlers (2019) and the TV anthology Extrapolations (2023)
Role: She serves as the narrator in Weapons, providing the film’s narrative voiceover that threads together its multi-perspective structure and emotional tone.
What to Expect: An intimate, sometimes haunting voice track that elevates the film’s oral storytelling beats.
Favorite Things: Limited public information is available about her personal interests at this time.
Notable Works: Hustlers, Extrapolations, and Waitress (Broadway).
Toby Huss as Captain Ed
DOB: February 9, 1966.
Bio: Toby Huss is an American character actor and voice artist celebrated for his comic versatility and willingness to inhabit quirky, unsettling, or larger-than-life roles.
Huss draws on his background in improvisational theater to build memorable, textured characters across both television and film.
Role: Captain Ed is the local authority figure, a first responder or small-town official, who becomes increasingly involved as community anxiety heightens and the central mystery deepens.
What to Expect: A grounded, idiosyncratic performance with the right mix of humor and alarm.
Favorite Things: Huss passionately pursues voice work, sketch and character comedy, and improvisation, areas he’s publicly credited for maintaining his creative edge.
Notable Works: Voiced Cotton Hill in King of the Hill, appeared in Halt and Catch Fire, Carnivale.
Whitmer Thomas as Mr. Lilly (Alex’s father)
DOB: May 3, 1989.
Bio: Whitmer Thomas is an American comedian, actor, musician, and writer who began his career in improvisational comedy in Los Angeles.
He co-founded the comedy troupe Power Violence and co-created the animated series Stone Quackers.
Role: Mr. Lilly, Alex’s father, a parent whose grief and denial are central to the film’s emotional friction.
What to Expect: Raw, rueful scenes that mix small-town realism with quiet heartbreak.
Favorite Things: On and off stage, Thomas is known for touring as a comedian–musician, blending original songs with standup performance.
Notable Works: The Golden One (HBO special), Stone Quackers, Sword of Trust, The Civil Dead, television guest roles, including GLOW and The Walking Dead.
Callie Schuttera as Alex’s Mom
DOB: N/A
Bio: Callie Schuttera is an American actress, producer, and writer born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
She earned her B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), then moved to Los Angeles where she co-founded Poison Pictures Film House.
Role: Alex’s Mom, a character whose grief and trauma are central emotional drivers of the story.
What to Expect: Intimate, emotionally fraught scenes that show the family aftershock.
Favorite Things: Limited public profile; rising young performer.
Notable Works: Blue (festival-acclaimed lead role and streaming feature), guest roles in On Call, The Rookie, The Mosquito Coast.
June Diane Raphael as Donna
DOB: January 4, 1980.
Bio: June Diane Raphael is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer known for her sharp comedic instincts and heartfelt performances.
A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she became a skilled improviser at Upright Citizens Brigade, where she created the long-running sketch show Rode Hard and Put Away Wet alongside Casey Wilson.
Role: Donna is a local parent and community organizer whose presence adds social texture to the town’s response to the central mystery.
What to Expect: Sharp comedic instincts used to offset tense dramatic beats.
Favorite Things: Raphael’s comedic roots run deep, many know her for her UCB training, sketch-based improv, and collaborative comedy projects
Notable Works: Cocreator of Ass Backwards; roles in TV comedies such as Burning Love, NTSF:SD:SUV::, and Grace and Frankie; and regular host of How Did This Get Made?.
More Actors
• Jason Turner as Counselor.
• Anny Jules as Parent #1.
• Ali Burch as Parent #2.
• Luke Speakman as Matthew.
• Sara Paxton as Erica.
• Justin Long as Gary.
• Mohammed Fahmy, Eric Jepson, Robert Hendren and many more credited bit players, detectives, parents and townspeople who make the small-town world feel lived in.
FAQ – Weapons (2025) Movie
What genre is it, and how long is it?
It’s a horror-mystery thriller with an R rating and a 128-minute runtime.
Is Weapons base on true story?
No, Weapons (2025) is not based on a true story.
It’s an entirely fictional horror-thriller written and directed by Zach Cregger, blending supernatural folklore, psychological tension, and small-town mystery.
What is the plot of weapons?
Seventeen children vanish overnight, and the lone survivor discovers his aunt is a witch behind it all, leading to a dark battle to save the missing kids.
Who is the film’s main villain, and what’s her backstory?
Amy Madigan portrays Gladys, a frighteningly eerie figure revealed to be a witch-like entity.
Using ritualistic blood magic, she traps and feeds off the children’s life energy via a supernatural tree, part horror trope, part disturbing metaphor for addiction and trauma.
Who’s behind Weapons?
Directed and written by Zach Cregger, the film was co-produced by Cregger, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz, and Rafi Margulis. The score is by Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, and Cregger himself.
Conclusion
“Weapons” is not a horror film for casual thrills, it’s a slow-burn descent into fear, paranoia, and the fractures within a community under siege.
Zach Cregger delivers a daring vision that blends unsettling mystery with social commentary, backed by committed performances from Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, and Alden Ehrenreich.
While its fragmented storytelling and abstract moments may challenge some viewers, it’s exactly this refusal to conform that makes it linger long after the credits roll.
In a genre crowded with formula, “Weapons” stands out as a bold, unnerving, and thought-provoking piece of cinema.