Non-linear movies like Weapons are rare to come by. Typically, the majority of moviegoers want a straight-forward story that glides along nicely for 90-120 minutes. However, films like this this remind us that life is rarely so forward-facing – it weaves, diverts, and traces back.
To that, although it is a horror movie where your disbelief must be placed on the back-burner, there’s a human core at the centre. Once again, emerging filmmaker Zach Cregger has taken horror fans on a wild ride, just like he did with Barbarian in 2022. With Weapons‘ non-linear chaptering format, the end result is rather unique. But of course, he isn’t the first filmmaker to utilize this technique. Yet he may be the filmmaker to bring it back to popularity.
Zach Cregger’s Inspirations for Weapons Says It All
When non-linear movies are brought up in conversation, most cinema buffs will think of Quentin Tarantino, a visionary artist who right from the get-go spun viewers around with Reservoir Dogs, a crime movie that shifts back-and-to in timeframes. He then followed up with Pulp Fiction in 1994, a film that saw the lead character die half way through only to return for the epic finale. With its criss-crossing narrative, Weapons does resemble what a Tarantino horror film might look like. So, it comes as no surprise that Cregger cited Pulp Fiction as one of his inspirations. However, this was more of a second thought after the fact, realizing he may have been subconsciously inspired by it. When featuring on RingerMovies, he said: “I would be the biggest liar in the world if I didn’t say Pulp Fiction changed my life when it came out. So, that’s got to be baked in there.”
However, the movies he more directly credited as inspiration were Magnolia, Hereditary, Prisoners, and Picnic at Hanging Rock. With it’s multi-threaded narrative and no clear-cut lead, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Magnolia is the most obvious mirroring seen in Weapons. In terms of look and feel, it’s evident that Cregger sought to emulate the dark, rainy, and somber visual aesthetic of Denis Villeneuve‘s Prisoners. Despite citing so many influences, Weapons is still utterly idiosyncratic. With a mystery looming over us, Cregger drops breadcrumbs throughout the movie that slowly help it all make more sense. Each segment is split off into separate characters, each lending clues to a twist that explodes into sheer chaos.
Personal Heartache Led to the Creation of Weapons
In today’s cinematic landscape, filmmakers are granted much more free will with their desire to branch out. We saw it in 2017 when famed comedy sketch actor-writer Jordan Peele delivered Get Out, and we’re seeing it again now with Zach Cregger. Prior to Barbarian, Cregger was known in the comedy world, primarily as a writer and actor on The Whitest Kids U’Know. During his time on the show, he became close with fellow writer Trevor Moore, who sadly passed away in 2021 after a fatal fall from his apartment balcony. When speaking with GQ, Cregger explained how the writing process for Weapons began as a way of working through his grief. He said: “The movie’s about that overwhelming emotion you get when you lose someone close to you. This script was me venting about that. So I didn’t explode.”
While he hasn’t officially confirmed this, a finer detail in Weapons could be linked to the death of Cregger’s friend Trevor Moore. In the movie, the children all disappear at 2:17am. Moore’s time of death was said to be around 2:30am.
Will Non-Linear Movies Make a Comeback?
For a while, it seemed like if you wanted to watch a non-liner movie you’d have to wait for Quentin Tarantino to drop his next flick. In the mid-late 90s, they became all the rage, with movies like Go and Thursday being indelicately labelled as Tarantino copycats. However, after a while this kind of wore off, perhaps due to filmmakers not wanting their work to be seen as imitation, whether it is the sincerest form of flattery or not. But more recently, this narrative choice is making somewhat of a comeback. For example, indie gems like Strange Darling have been praised for it. Yet with Weapons being a major box office hit and a triumph with critics, it could be Zach Cregger who kicks off another non-linear phase for cinema. One thing is for certain, though, horror movies are booming in 2025, and it could just be that fans of the genre are ready to embrace a new approach.
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