Weapons

this movie is fucking insane - after a couple days to chew on it; confused and saddened by anyone taking away “nothing” from this movie! while cregger does a lot of show and not tell, there is still a lot given to us. this movie is entirely unsubtle in its theme: we use children as proxies for violence. the literal nexus of the story is the abuse in alex’s home. as for the ending, i disagree with the idea that it nullifies the events of the film. nothing will ever be the same for anyone involved at the end of this story!! this is so explicitly about abuse, perpetuated violence, and trauma! alive or dead, victims are still victims going to keep rolling in my head for a while. cregger chooses deeply scary shots every chance he gets, god like alex’s parents at the end of the hall!!! his low light scenes are just dark enough to leave your eyes darting, seeing shapes. i audibly gasped/screamed more times than i would like to admit, but i probably laughed just as much. i love how cregger balances comedy with horror because so much horror is inherently very funny! it can be a difficult line to toe, but the way he allows the scary things to be a bit silly is great. it definitely doesn’t work for all horror, but i think cregger’s heavy themes and gruesome violence really benefit from the space to breathe. even with the laughs, i left the cinema with a rock in my stomach. cannot wait to watch again