In partnership with Warner Bros. UK
Seventeen children disappear at the same time on the same night in the chilling new film, Weapons. Written and directed by Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed hit Barbarians, it’s a mystery movie destined to keep audiences guessing. So, given this, NME felt it was only right to give you an insight into the creative mind behind the utterly enthralling madness. Here is our guide to your new favourite director: Zach Cregger.
The man, the myth, the mirth
One of Hollywood’s hottest new directors, Zach Cregger returns with Weapons after bursting onto the scene with his 2022 chiller Barbarian. But Cregger is just as adept at raising laughs as he is scares. For five seasons, he starred in television sketch comedy The Whitest Kids U’Know, led by the eponymous comedy troupe he co-formed back in 2000. It led to an impressive career in both movies and television. Having starred in NBC sitcom Friends With Benefits, Cregger has also brought his comedic skills to the big screen, including roles in such films as Love & Air Sex and Opening Night.
Subverting the scares
A Zach Cregger scary movie is not your average fright night. Weapons brings us intelligent, elevated horror – taking the oft-told tale of missing children and seasoning it with tonal shifts and unexpected twists rather than jump scares and other overly familiar tricks. Likewise, Barbarian’s setting of a rickety old Detroit house with a secret creepy basement draws from classic horror tropes, but Cregger uses it to explore hot-button topics like toxic masculinity and male privilege. He even read The Gift Of Fear – a self-help book about red flags women need to look out for from men.
Actors love him
Zach Cregger is an actor’s director. Due in part to his own background in performing, Cregger loves working with actors – and the feeling is mutual. So is it any surprise Weapons has one of the coolest casts you’ll see all year? Led by three-time Emmy-winner Julia Garner (Ozark, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and the Oscar-nominated Josh Brolin (Dune: Part Two, No Country For Old Men), Weapons also stars Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) and Amy Madigan (Field Of Dreams). That is awards season gold right there.
Diversity is key
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, and Zach Cregger draws from some unique and diverse artistic inspirations. Weapons may recall the small-town America vibe of many a Stephen King story, but Cregger was more inspired by the multi-stranded magnificence of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Not only is he building a movie on a similarly epic and emotional scale to PTA’s ensemble, but you could be forgiven for thinking Alden Ehrenreich’s moustache in Weapons is a direct nod to John C. Reilly’s ’tache-wearing cop in Magnolia.
Real-life horror
Maybrook and the surrounding McCarren County may be a fictional setting. But for Weapons, Zach Cregger has dipped into the real world too. While the story is not based on any one incident, real-life tragedies like the famed disappearance of the Sodder children in 1945 West Virginia will surely spring to mind. Cregger also took inspiration from tragedy in his own life, when someone close to him died. With some autobiographical elements blended into the script, Cregger also calls Weapons an incredibly personal story.
Shared universes
Some filmmakers love to cameo in their own movies. Some love to create them all as if they belong to a larger, integrated world. Zach Cregger featured, briefly, in Barbarian, although in Weapons, it’s his Barbarian actress Sara Paxton who returns for a sneaky cameo. Meanwhile, the canny viral PR for the movie (maybrookmissing.net) includes a local newsletter that features stories about the missing children and a Barbarian-inspired report of the discovery of a Detroit house with a warren of underground tunnels. Could the two films be connected? Watch Weapons and find out.
Cinematography counts
Zach Cregger is a visual stylist, a director who crafts his images with flair and distinction. On Barbarian, he lived by the maxim “Fincher upstairs, Raimi downstairs”, as he took inspiration from directors David Fincher and Sam Raimi for the two very distinct worlds of the film. On Weapons, he brought in genius cinematographer Larkin Seiple to help him bring his eerie story to life. Seiple is an acclaimed director of photography known for his work with the director duo known as The Daniels, including Swiss Army Man and the mind-bending Oscar-winner Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Musical maestro
Some people are just too darn talented. Not only is Zach Cregger credited as the writer-director and producer of Weapons, he also takes his first ever credit as co-composer on the film. Together with brothers Ryan Holladay and Hays Holladay, who previously contributed music cues to the Barbarian soundtrack, Cregger has composed the score for Weapons. So not only will he be scaring you with images and ideas, but some nerve-shredding sounds too.
‘Weapons’ is in UK cinemas from August 8