The newly released trailer for Weapons, the upcoming horror film from Barbarian writer-director Zack Cregger, has already cemented its place as one of the most unsettling previews in recent memory.
Fans are reporting sleepless nights after viewing its intensely disturbing imagery. Starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin, the two-minute clip opens with a deceptively simple premise: teacher Miss Gandy (Garner) arrives at her classroom to find all 17 students have mysteriously vanished overnight.
What follows is a masterclass in psychological dread, punctuated by a child's eerie narration explaining how the teacher becomes a suspect in the disappearance, while CCTV footage reveals the children all fled their homes simultaneously at 2:17am.
The trailer's escalating horror has sparked widespread reactions across social media, with viewers describing physical chills and lost sleep.
One X user confessed: "I don't like scary movies and I watched that WEAPONS trailer late last night and I swear to god it was so scary I couldn't even sleep."
Others declared it might be "the scariest film of the year," while one claimed it gave them "full body chills" during the trailer's final 30 seconds.
The preview's most haunting moments – a child suddenly sitting upright in a dark classroom, a man being violently struck by a car, black oil being poured over someone's face – culminate in a door eerily opening by itself as a child whispers: "This is where the story really starts."
Warner Bros has amplified the unease with an extraordinarily bold marketing stunt: a two-hour-long, untitled YouTube video showing children running into woods with outstretched arms, presented as raw CCTV footage without context.
The unnerving upload confused unsuspecting viewers who stumbled upon it, with horror fans subsequently dissecting every frame for clues.
Eagle-eyed viewers spotted a blink-and-you'll-miss-it image of a baseball team appearing for just a split second – potentially a vital plot hint or deliberate misdirection from Cregger, whose 2022 breakout Barbarian demonstrated his knack for subverting horror tropes.
The filmmaker's track record suggests Weapons will deliver more than cheap jump scares. After Barbarian's critical acclaim and his producing role on the praised horror Companion, Cregger has cultivated a reputation for psychologically rich, visually inventive terror.
Early reactions indicate this new project – following a teacher unravelling a supernatural mystery while under suspicion – could become this generation's The Ring in terms of cultural impact and nightmare fuel.
What makes the campaign particularly effective is its grounding in mundane settings turned sinister – classrooms, suburban homes, and woodland areas become landscapes of dread.
The trailer's use of childhood innocence corrupted (those running children, the empty desks) taps into primal fears far more effectively than gore-heavy horror. As Twitter user Lulamaybelle succinctly put it: "These kids are not alright. #Weapons looks messed up [positive]."
Cinemas should prepare for packed screenings when Weapons arrives on August 8 – though viewers might want to schedule daytime showings.
As another viewer observed plainly: "Man Weapons just looks crazy f****n' good."
