Sinister truth behind this year’s creepiest horror flick

Beneath its nail-biting jump scares lies a dark meaning that transforms this year’s horror sensation into something far more unsettling.

Warning: contains spoilers.

Horror maestro Stephen King took to X earlier this week to describe Weapons as “confidently told, and very scary,” before offering a rare bit of praise: “I loved it.”

And for fans of unsettling cinema, the film mostly delivers - though not always in the way you might expect.

Director Zach Cregger (Barbarian, 2022) leans into well-timed humour for relief, with laugh-out-loud moments that almost verge on comedy-horror.

But the movie isn’t purely comedic - there are genuinely creepy moments too, like when a character climbs into the back of Miss Gandy’s (Julia Garner) car while she sleeps.

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Weapons received a 94 per cent rating on Rotton Tomatoes. Picture: X

The scene had my cinema neighbour squirming in his seat, and even his movie-length sundae couldn’t distract them from the spinechilling image of Alex’s brainwashed parents sitting on the couch - a shot that instantly reminded me of the eerie living room scene in Jordan Peele’s Us.

One elderly viewer even muttered, “What was that? I’m not sleeping tonight,” proving the film still hits the fear nerve for some.

Weapons balances the absurd with the disturbing. Jump scares are so overdone they verge on intentional satire - and perhaps the theatrical, Marvel-level shock factor is unsurprising given the actors behind Silver Surfer, Thanos, and Wong all make an appearance.

Yet beneath it all runs a thread of unease: corrupt cops (Alden Ehrenreich), teachers crossing boundaries with students, alcoholism, and fears around HIV ground the horror in unnerving reality.

Josh Brolin excellently portrayed a deeply conflicted father whose anger clouded his judgment. Picture: IMDb

Josh Brolin’s tenacious Archer Graff experiences one of the film’s most surreal sequences in a nightmare where a giant AR-15 floats above his house, the time 2:17 displayed ominously.

Film theorists immediately connected it to the failed 2022 HR1808 Assault Weapons Ban in the US, which passed by exactly 217 votes but was never enacted.

TikTok users have also drawn parallels to the 2018 Parkland school shooting, in which 17 students and staff were tragically killed.

Cregger told Variety the scene is “a very important moment,” but admitted, “what I love about it so much is that I don’t understand it,” leaving interpretation open to the audience.

While most online commenters see the film as a symbol for unchecked gun violence, others argue it’s about adults projecting their anger and failures onto their children.

Gladys, the witch, takes it further, literally weaponising the kids for her own selfish agenda.

Some theories even suggest her red wig, white face, and blue eyeliner represent America itself - painting the nation as the true villain.

Not looking much like a Sorcerer Supreme here Wong. Picture: IMDb

At its core, Weapons lingers long after the credits roll, with surreal imagery, clever camera work, jarring fight scenes and layered metaphors that remind us how easily we ignore the obvious - like when several key characters encounter Gladys and fail to question her bizarre appearance, serving as yet another commentary on humanity’s tendency toward inaction.

For anyone expecting a standard jump-scare fest, the terror isn’t conventional - at most, I’d say my heart rate barely crept up to 75 BPM - definitely not nightmare fuel.

“The true horror came from the drama of that boy’s (Alex’s) predicament. Where he continued to go to school and couldn’t say anything. Nothing to do with jump scares or scary demonic entities. Just terrible family values,” commented one X user.

And while the spooky trailer of kids running through dark, empty streets had me hoping for a horror flick to finally rival Scott Derrickson’s Sinister (2012), it’s the movie’s unusual approach that makes it so effective.

Because sometimes the most terrifying monsters aren’t what we see on screen - they’re the choices we make.