Weapons 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Weapons 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

We need to talk about Gladys.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 10, 2025

Yet another smash hit from Warner Bros. during a banner year, Zach Cregger's Weapons is carefully-made horror with an intriguing hook. Having previously found success with his second film Barbarian after largely sticking with comedy (including as a founding member of the American sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know), the writer/director establishes a strong tone very quickly, draws out solid performances from the cast, and sprinkles in more than enough wall-placed scares and gore to satiate genre fans. Shrewdly borrowing the patchwork, character-driven stylings of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and mixing in a few nods to classic horror films along the way, Weapons shows room for improvement around the edges but is nonetheless a solid step forward from a new name to watch.

Even if you've yet to see Weapons, you probably know its premise already: in the fictional town of Maybrook, PA, 17 students from the same third-grade class suddenly vanish from their homes one night, leaving only young Alex (Cary Christopher). The resulting investigation leads to very few answers, only that the kids were awakened at exactly 2:17 and all ran from their homes in the same direction. Naturally, their quiet young teacher Justine (Julia Garner) is grilled by the police and furious parents during a school-wide meeting soon after, and she's further tormented by phone calls, side-eyes, and vandalism. Urged by diplomatic principal Marcus (Benedict Wong) to take some time off, Justine soon reunites with ex-boyfriend and local cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich) before establishing something of a connection with Archer (Josh Brolin), the father of a missing student who's been conducting his own investigation.

What few clues are gathered seem to largely point in the same direction: the home of surviving student Alex, whose mom and dad (Callie Schuttera and Whitmer Thomas) have recently taken in her sick aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) for an extended stay. The young boy dutifully returns home after school every day but, to outsiders, it's come to look all but abandoned with trash in the backyard and newspaper covering most of the windows. Separate "investigations" by Justine, Paul, and homeless drug addict James (Austin Abrams) -- who's really just looking for stuff to pawn -- have yielded the same conclusion: something's not right in there, but no one's done anything about it yet.

Weapons' first half is where the Magnolia comparisons come in, as great pains are taken to weave together separate stories featuring Justine, Archer, Paul, Marcus, and Alex, each told from their perspective and occasionally intersecting before the story eventually converges. Gladys proves to be a major player and is undoubtedly Weapons' breakout star and, while Amy Madigan's performance is great and the makeup department certainly worked overtime on her look, it's her introduction and continued antics where the film's tone takes a half-step backwards. Though it regularly flirts with black comedy along the way, Weapons devolves more fully into abstract insanity during its third act and, if I'm being honest, this tends to undercut the central mystery in a way that feels unsatisfying. Its careful precision -- up until that point, at least -- invites rewatches and closer scrutiny while the home stretch mostly falls into genre clichés, though Weapons' exceedingly gory final showdown is indeed batshit crazy and ultimately won me over.

It's tough to grade horror films; they've got to legitimately scare the viewer while delivering something a little deeper to earn their keep, at least in my book. Weapons does indeed deliver on suspense and shock value at critical moments while flirting with symbolism along the way and, while it doesn't fully stick the latter landing, the writer/director's talent is obvious if not a little too dependent on existing films as an easy structural and nostalgic crutch. This is nonetheless a fairly refreshing effort, even though one can safely assume that its success will lead to follow-ups that hopefully don't travel down the wrong roads. (It's already been revealed that Creggar has definite plans for a prequel film starring Gladys, which doesn't exactly spark my interest... but who knows? This movie surprised me too.)

Warner Bros. kinda-sorta does right by Weapons with their requisite three-tiered home video approach, offering separate 4K and Blu-ray packages as well as a preferred Steelbook combo pack that's probably sold out by now. All options get you a proportionately solid A/V presentation and a trio of short but solid featurettes, though a much more in-depth collection of bonus features would've made Weapons an easy Top 10 favorite at year's end.

Weapons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the Blu-ray edition, also available separately and reviewed here.

Horror films, native 4K or otherwise, often have a lot to gain from 2160p/HDR10/Dolby Vision presentations, as their reliance on darkened rooms and lurking shadows are much easier to read with the format's higher degree of contrast, shadow detail, and disc encoding that (hopefully) wards off banding, macro blocking, posterization, and other eyesores. The good news is that Warner Bros.' transfer of Weapons does exactly that, as it's thankfully been authored on a full triple-layered disc and runs with supportive compression during these critical moments. Daylit scenes are standouts as well and colors are especially well-rendered here, from Gladys' peacock-like attire and blazing red wig to the lush green forest where homeless James makes his encampment. Everyday environments, from the colorful school classrooms to a neon-lit bar where Justine meets Paul, are likewise precise and vivid without feeling overly saturated. Weapons is also home to much more drab, desaturated, and foreboding environments and these look solid too, with perhaps my only slight complaint being a few subtly shifting gamma levels between specific shots along the way. This may very well be part of the source material, but otherwise there's not much tangible room for improvement here.

Weapons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Weapons' Dolby Atmos mix brings the goods with a sturdy and immersive presentation that fills out crucial moments with strong atmospherics including channel panning, discrete effects, and a solid amount of LFE response when needed. All the while dialogue remains crisp and easily understood, natural and organic effects are brought in to naturally fill out everyday locations, and there's more than enough room left over for the original score credited to Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, and writer/director Zach Cregger with bookending pop music cues by George Harrison and MGMT. The Atmos-exclusive height channels are used sparingly but effectively including for several direct-overhead thumps and bumps, other surprises, and sporadic music support. Those limited to 7.1 or 5.1 will still find this to be an engaging sonic experience, though, and one that adds to overall enjoyment without feeling too showy or overcooked.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are offered during the main feature and all three extras listed below.

Weapons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork, a matching matte-finish slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. The bonus features are of very good quality despite their brevity, which makes it all the more disappointing that more weren't included. An audio commentary would've been fantastic.

• Director Zach Cregger: Making Horror Personal (6:15) - Writer/director Zach Cregger speaks candidly about the sudden and unexpected death of a friend that led to an early draft of the story, his first film Barbarian (which isn't on home video yet, but probably will be now), and how other personal memories influenced parts of Weapons. Other key cast and crew members are also featured in supportive interview clips.

• Weaponized: The Cast of Weapons (8:53) - Returning cast and crew members speak about their individual roles and the balanced created between each of them, while Zach Cregger also talks briefly about his love for Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and how it influenced Weapons' number of characters.

• Weapons: Texture of Terror (6:49) - Another short-form but interesting featurette, this piece features many of the same participants and covers the film's layers of texture, from various elements of the production design to costumes, makeup, practical effects, and specific props that are important to the story.

Weapons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zach Cregger's Weapons was one of this year's most talked-about horror films and a fairly original one at that, and it will hopefully stand on its own as long as possible before likely devolving into an ongoing cinematic universe. For now it remains a decently solid genre effort that invites analysis and several rewatches, and Warner Bros.' trio of home video editions are largely up to the challenge of satisfying fans and first-timers alike. The A/V merits are proportionately solid across the board although the trio of bonus features, though very good despite their brevity, could have easily been expanded upon to sweeten the deal. Whatever option you choose, though, Weapons is Recommended.