The inciting incident that kicks off the story in writer/director Zach Cregger’s new horror movie Weapons is incredibly freaky all by itself: in a small town, 17 children wake from their beds simultaneously, leave their homes, and flee into the night. But it’s not just the event itself that is scary, but also the way it happens. The kids don’t just stroll away from their houses but instead sprint at full tilt with their arms angled straight out at their sides. It’s a seriously creepy image that has been used very effectively in the marketing – and it even successfully sends a chill down the spine of star Josh Brolin.
Knowing how the proverbial sausage is made certainly takes some of the edge off of scary movies for the actors who make them, but the case of the eerie arm positioning in Weapons is kind of a special case for Brolin. When I spoke with him late last month during the Los Angeles press day for the upcoming 2025 movie (as captured in the video above), I brought up the subject of the special physicality, and the actor explained that he made a point of not wanting to know the “why” of it all. On set, he wasn’t sure if it would work on screen, but he now recognizes that it definitely does. Said Brolin,
I don't know if that's something. I don't know where that came from. And I never wanted to know, and I still don't want to know. Because it is a good mystery. And it's very strange the way... it's something that he tells you he's gonna do or you see happen on set, and you go, 'Is that gonna be dumb or is that gonna be...' And I think it's super effective... So anybody on the street that you see like that, you're gonna freak out.
In addition to Josh Brolin not asking Zach Cregger about it on the set of Weapons, the “reason” behind the way the kids hold out their arms as they run isn’t something that is ever explained in the film either, and like Brolin, I think that’s a great move. Explanations tend to take a bit of the spookiness out of a scary mystery, and while there is plenty of other spookiness in the film awaiting audiences this weekend, it’s one of many nice things to excitedly mentally chew on as you walk out of the theater.
In Weapons, Josh Brolin plays Archer Graff, who is the father of one of the 17 children who go missing. He starts letting his whole life fall apart out of grief, and much of his frustration is directed at Julia Garner’s Justine Gandy – who is the teacher of all the kids who went missing. His story is one of a collection of interlocking tales in the horror film, which also stars Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher and Amy Madigan.
After months of building up hype with creepy trailers and earning buzz from early reactions and critics (allow me to recommend my five-star CinemaBlend review), Weapons is finally almost here, as it will be arriving in theaters everywhere this weekend. After you see the film, I would highly recommend heading back here to the site, as it’s definitely a movie that you’re going to want to read about, and we have plenty more articles and features coming your way.
