Movie: Weapons
Running Time: 2:09
Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress
How I watched: AMC x 2
When it had me: Initial Mystery
When it lost me: It did not
What systems does it challenge: Lack of community
Weapons is about a town where a whole classroom full of children go missing overnight. They simply get up and run outside and vanish. There is grief and searching and blaming and raging but no one gets any closer to the truth for the first month.
Amy Madigan plays Aunt Gladys in Weapons and became a cultural icon doing so. She could be the merciless mastermind behind a town's suffering but also a sweet befuddled old lady who I swear will remind you of at least one relative you knew as a kid. She was so great she got nominated for a horror film! That is usually a rare occurrence for the Oscars but as the nation slips further into fascism, it seems that horror has found a more prominent place in our collective hearts.
What's really great in this movie is the story telling style. We follow one character at time and learn their piece of the puzzle. I think there are five perspectives that we follow and slowly each of the stories begins to interconnect with the other characters and a broader picture begins to form.
They took that trope in horror films where everyone is so scared but if they just talked to each other and shared what they knew they might be able to work together to get out alive, and expanded it to be the whole movie and it works beautifully. I was so engaged in the mystery I forgot to be frightened. (I told my kid it wasn't that scary so they watched it and disagreed with me whole-heartedly!)
The depiction of the supernatural is so mysterious and specific and diabolical. I love how creepy the vibes are throughout. The ending is too gruesome for most viewers I know but it is a very satisfying watch for me from start to finish.