“Weapons” is the latest horror film from director and writer Zach Cregger, whose feature directorial debut, “Barbarian,” was a huge success when it was released in 2022. His follow-up has been greatly anticipated since then, and Warner Bros. has done an incredible job marketing the film to get audiences super interested in what the horror filmmaker has up his sleeve for his latest. Working with an all-star cast that includes Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong & Amy Madigan, the film follows the case of seventeen kids from the same classroom who mysteriously disappear overnight at the exact same time, with their teacher being the main suspect. Cregger was kind enough to speak with us about his work and experience making the film, which you can listen to or read below. Please be sure to check out the film, which will be released exclusively in theaters nationwide by Warner Bros. on August 8th. Thank you, and enjoy!
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Zach Cregger: I just wanted to say, I watched you this morning interviewing Ari Aster.
Matt Neglia: Oh, get outta here! That’s funny. That is really funny.
Yeah, I did. Anyway, sorry to interrupt you, just start over. My bad.
Yeah, no. It’s okay—all right, everyone. I’m being joined right now by the director and writer for the film “Weapons,” Zach Cregger. Zach, thank you so much, man, for joining me here.
Thank you for having me.
Alright man. So I wanna dive into this without obviously spoiling anything. I think that’s part of the fun and the surprise. Warner Bros. has done a hell of a job marketing this and getting people excited for it. But let’s talk about some filmmaking decisions. I’m really curious to know, especially with the opening of the film, it’s a very montage-heavy opening that I particularly loved, it really sucked me into the story that you were setting up. What I noticed was how much the camera in almost every shot, I think, is pushing in. Whether that’s on a dolly or not, I’m not exactly sure, but what makes you decide, either consciously or subconsciously, that’s how I want to tell this story visually through the camera movement?
Well, “Magnolia” was a big inspiration for this movie. And the cold open of “Magnolia” is another montage with really energetic camera moves and zooms on a dolly, and all kinds of swinging, and it’s just never stationary. And so, my cinematographer, Larkin Seiple, and I talked about “Magnolia” all the time while we were putting that sequence together. And so it was very much an homage to that.
You’ve got a story with weapons here that’s being told from multiple perspectives. What was the inspiration for that, where it’s a segment based on one character’s point of view?
Yeah. “Magnolia” doesn’t do that, but it does have a big array of characters that it kind of treats with equal attention. But this is a much more novelistic kind of structure. And I’m sure I’ve read a bunch of books that kind of follow this structure, but the one that kind of jumps to mind is “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” which is a book by Jennifer Egan that I really enjoyed. But there are so many books that kind of follow this path, and so I just knew that I wasn’t going to have one perspective throughout the movie. I needed a plethora, and I thought it would be more interesting if I could limit everyone to their own chapter, never come back, and retag with somebody, like most movies do. Just like when you’re done with Justine’s chapter, you never go back. And, I liked that. It was a fun challenge to write it. It made it hard. But I’m glad I did it. Especially too, because there are certain key moments where we’re seeing two characters interact, and so, you get the one side of the perspective from one character, and then several chapters later, you’re then seeing it from the other character’s point of view, and then they overlap.
Yeah.
And in some cases, it also takes on a different tone as well.
When you’re shooting this, I imagine you’re not shooting in sequence. So, is there any level of communication with the actors about how they have to play a certain scene due to the difference in perspective?
Yeah. For example, when Alden is talking to Austin after he’s punched him in the face and he’s kind of waking him up, and he is making a deal, he’s like, “I’m gonna let you go, but you have to leave.” So when we shot it with Alden’s chapter, the cop’s point of view, he behaves kind of evenly. It’s a relatively subdued delivery. And he’s trying to just, you know, get this guy not to sue him. And yet when we reshoot that scene from Austin’s point of view, the camera’s at a lower angle, so he has more menace. And I had Alden behave in an overtly menacing way, because James’ experience of this moment is terrifying. So it was fun. You know, you get to let the actors take a couple of different bites at the apple and have a different perspective on things. It was a really cool process.
I was also trying to break down the children running. Why is that motion with the arms out at that angle so off-putting and disturbing to me as a viewer? Did you have a dream of this? Did you see somebody doing this one day? Where did that image come from?
It just felt wrong, you know? And I think that’s something that was kind of there from the very beginning, when I remember when I first wrote “they go running outta the house,” I wrote that they have their arms out in that way. It’s just such an inexplicable thing, but to have them all doing it the same way I knew would just inject a lot of questions into this from the onset, and that’s a good thing.
And when you’re thinking about those questions, I know for me, based on the title, the initial premise, my brain immediately goes to a metaphor for school shootings, which obviously are far too common in this country. And something that really upsets me as a viewer. I think transporting that into the horror genre, intentionally or unintentionally, is genius on your part. Was that the catalyst for why you wanted to tell this story? Was there a particular moment?
No.
No? Okay. So, where did the idea originate from?
I mean, to me, it’s not about school shootings. I don’t want this movie to be political at all.
Sure.
It’s a personal movie—this movie’s really kind of autobiographical in many ways. You know, someone really close to me died, and I’m kind of feeling all of these emotions that you get when you lose somebody. I was able just to write these characters that had the same emotions, you know? About these kids leaving and this community left in the wake of that, you know? It was a really fertile playground for me to write about my anger and sadness and all these things, and let them do everything I wanted to do, but I can’t do. In that regard, it just felt healthy. It was therapeutic.
In a positive way, it reminded me of watching something like “The Leftovers,” where there was this initial intriguing premise. It’s all about how the characters are impacted by it and their reactions to it.
Right.
But yet there’s no easy explanation ever given for what exactly happens or why. And even when there was, the audience was still left to have their own meaning and interpretations still for what it meant for them.
Yeah.
So, I feel that in many ways, this film can achieve both, which I find very exciting. But I don’t want to get too much of a tangent here…I want to ask you another filmmaking question, because you did this so well on “Barbarian,” and you do it again here too…You are so good at creating a dreadful, haunting atmosphere. Is there like a certain checkbox that a filmmaker needs to have in order to capture that feeling?
I believe sound design is crucial and often underrated. So I think dialing in the sound is a really big part of it. And then also, taking your time, just like chewing the scenery as it were, you know? And don’t be afraid to live in a POV (point of view) or an OTS (over the shoulder) shot. I think many horror movies make the mistake of having the camera on the actor when somebody is walking down a dark hall. And I’m like, “That’s the least scary thing you could show me right now.” So I’d like to put the camera behind the actor or where they’re looking and go slow. And I feel like you’re cooking with gas then.
You certainly were cooking with gas because there were at least two moments where you caused me to do this *mimics being afraid* during the movie.
Oh good.
You got my heart racing at two particular points that I can think of.
What were the two points?
I don’t want to reveal it to the listeners right now. I’m worried.
Yeah, fair enough.
I’ll just say this. There was one part having to do with a reveal on the ceiling.
Okay. Okay. Fair.
That one, that one got me good.
Okay.
And then the other one was something that I just found to be so unsettling, where a character walks out of a door.
Yeah, yeah!
That one is not a jump scare, but it made me so tense.
Well, those are my favorites, right? When something is scary, but it’s not a jump scare, then that’s the best because that can really stick with you.
And then I want to end this by saying that, because of the comparisons between “Barbarian” and “Weapons,” I’ve been hearing a lot of generalizations get thrown out there, such as, “Oh, horror movie guy who throws a twist in at the end. He’s the new M. Night Shyamalan,” things like that. What do you want to primarily be known for in your stories that you tell as a filmmaker?
I don’t know. I don’t really think about that.
That’s totally fair and understandable. Some filmmakers prefer to stay within a particular genre, whereas others want to explore outside their comfort zone and experiment with multiple genres.
Yeah.
Is horror something you want to continue staying in or…?
I mean, yeah! The next movie I’m working on is a horror film. I love horror. It’s fun. However, the movie I hope to make next is a science fiction film. It has some horror elements, but it’s first and foremost a science fiction story. So, we’ll see. You know, it’s foolish to think too far ahead in this industry because anything can happen. So, I try to put one foot in front of the other.
That’s a good way of approaching it. I thank you so much for your time here. I hope everyone goes to the theater to check this one out because, well, they want to know the answer to the mystery first and foremost. But I just hope they also have a good time with it.
Thank you very much, man. It was nice speaking with you.
You too.
“Weapons” will be released in theaters on August 8th from Warner Bros. Pictures
You can follow Matt and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars and Film on X @NextBestPicture
