Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Weapons
1k Plays15 days ago
Join Nicholas and Mercedes, as they discuss a NEW RELEASE! Fresh out of a 2:17 movie screening of WEAPONS, they're jazzed and ready to spill all of the beans on Zach Cregger's latest horror swing. This conversation starts spoiler free, but will eventually give away all major plot details. They also discuss Barbarian, Nick's relationship to Whitest Kids You Know, your hosts' mutual hatred for bugs, and many more! Make sure to give the pod a follow, the FINAL DESTINATION season is right around the corner!
Remember to follow us on Instagram @morbid_curiosities_pod
Email us at morbidcuriosities10@gmail.com with comments/questions/concerns/recommendations
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Morbid Curiosities Podcast
00:01:11
Speaker
What's up, guys? We're Morbid Curiosities, your favorite horror movie podcast, bringing you another episode. I'm one of your hosts, Nicholas Ewers, and with me is the lightweight champion of the world, the morbid mistress of mayhem herself.
00:01:24
Speaker
Mercedes Martinez and I'm just going to say it now, our little guest speaker, Evie, she keeps walking in and out of the room. so i mean We're used to having her as a guest.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, for the new listeners, any new listeners tuning in.
Focus on Franchise Horror & 'Weapons' Discussion
00:01:40
Speaker
and We typically cover like franchise horror over here at Morbid Curiosities. We just wrapped up our the Scream series.
00:01:48
Speaker
We mentioned at the end of that our Scream 6 episode last week that we're going to be doing Final Destination coming up. And right now we're taking a little bit of a break from franchise horror, though. We're covering a new release today. We're going to be talking Zachary Kreger's weapons or Zach Kreger. I don't know if he goes by Zach or Zachary. I don't know him too personally. Yeah, it's the director of Barbarian. Mercedes and I, we actually saw it together. Yeah, it was a pretty fun time at the movies. At least I thought so.
00:02:23
Speaker
I did too. i had no complaints. and We also didn't have an old geezer sitting next to us oh man and um you um you know interrupting the movie by getting up and down and whatever. so We had comfortable experience. Nothing nothing bad happened.
00:02:43
Speaker
It was a good time.
Movie Etiquette & Personal Experiences
00:02:45
Speaker
You make it seem like I hate going to the movies with you. Come on, man. She complains the whole time. pre I really do. the whole way there She's like, oh, i hate being with this guy. No, i i if you you know forgot, I'm like talking to the movie. I i whisper. I'm not being like ignorant about it, but I'm just like talking or laughing. um um I have a tendency to do that. so But yeah, I was excited for this. like I was hyping it up all fucking week.
00:03:17
Speaker
so in your face I was very excited for this movie, too. And i will say, actually, like, even, like, usually I don't talk a whole lot at the movies. And you don't talk a whole lot, too. But you do speak at, like, a very respectful volume. So, yeah, I will give you that. You had some comments throughout the movie. And I was like, damn.
00:03:44
Speaker
I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that could actually hear these, and I don't even like hear them. They're not like even disruptive to me. And I was right next to you. So, I mean, bravo to you. You pulled it off. You found a good talking volume.
00:03:57
Speaker
Yeah, because I'm also trying to like you know be courteous to you because you're an avid movie moviegoer and I don't want to like ruin the experience for you either.
00:04:08
Speaker
but yeah, because I know people will have like full-on conversations with someone in there or they're like fucking checking their phones or just their phone goes off. I actually felt bad because my watch has like a little light on it that is...
00:04:25
Speaker
that is I don't know. I guess it's for my pulse. i could see that. I was like, shit, I should probably like turn this. I just tried to keep like my hands hidden. but yeah so If you're one of the ignorant people out there in movie theaters, just stay home. like Let us all enjoy our movie experience peacefully, i would say.
00:04:48
Speaker
I've dealt with some pretty bad people at the movie theater before. Not typically firsthand. I saw Life of Chuck
Appreciation for Zach Kreger's Work
00:04:55
Speaker
recently. i don't know if I've talked about this on the podcast before, but this elderly woman, the senior citizen, I think we could call her, was sitting in my seat.
00:05:05
Speaker
And the whole row was actually taken up by people like senior citizens who were in the wrong seat. I've seen people fall and argue and like screaming at each other during movies over seat. It gets wild. Yeah.
00:05:20
Speaker
Yeah, I luckily have not had a bad experience in a while. I have one little story that I want to share and then we could jump into the movie. And I don't remember if I've shared this before.
00:05:32
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, I don't know if I've said it already on the podcast. If I have sorry, guys, if you're listening to it again. But if I haven't, well, either way, it's a fun story. But yeah.
00:05:44
Speaker
It wasn't necessarily bad in the way that you would think. i um so My mom took us or took me to go see the movie The Strangers, and she was nice enough to let me bring my the guy was dating at the time and two of my friends. so We're sitting there watching it, and I'm like, man, this is such a cool time. and you know I'm scared off off my ass because you know oh I'm scared of all movies.
00:06:11
Speaker
and My friend was like, hey, my mom just texted me that there's a tornado warning. and I'm like, okay. And then I whispered that to my mom and she didn't like show any emotion, like it affected her anything.
00:06:28
Speaker
She just kept watching the movie. I'm like, okay, well, she's just not worried. I'm not worried. And then After a while, like the movie cut out and I'm like, oh, fuck what happened. And then one of the ushers was like, hey, guys, there's a tornado warning. So we are going to just exit the theater and we're all just going to like have a seat in like the hallways, whatever.
00:06:53
Speaker
And my mom was like, no, fuck this. I'm going to go home. And I'm like, mom, why are you swearing so loud? And she's like, no, if I'm going to die, I'm going to die in my own home. And I'm like, oh, my God, because everyone else started hearing her.
00:07:07
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, my God, this is so embarrassing. But we get in the car because, yeah, they they didn't keep us there since we wanted to leave. They were advising us to stay. But yeah, so we get in the car and we're driving. And then the three of my friends in the back were like, you know, we could see the tornado in the distance and literally so fucking far in the distance. We we were able to see it like I don't fucking know.
00:07:32
Speaker
It was it was a trippy, a trippy day. So fun experience with that one. That's ballsy. That's real life twisters right there, people. That's what we have to deal with in the Midwest.
00:07:43
Speaker
Literally. That's pretty badass of your mom. Not going to lie. It's weird. My
Expectations & Reactions to 'Weapons'
00:07:50
Speaker
brothers have the same exact story from back in, it must have been like 2008 probably.
00:07:56
Speaker
Except they stayed at the theater. Oh, okay. Well, but before we continue on and go into what we thought about the movie, I just want to give a quick shout out to one of our listeners, Lance Roberts. Thank you for, you know, always, ah ah you know, chiming in listening to our episodes every week.
00:08:16
Speaker
And even giving us suggestions, like we're here for it. We appreciate you. And yeah, just keep tuning in. And we got more stuff in store for you guys. So thank you, man.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah. And if there's any new listeners who enjoy our discussion of weapons that's about to come out. uh remember to follow the podcast rate us five stars tell a friend and go follow us on instagram at morbid underscore curiosities underscore pod you can shoot us a message over there give us some feedback on the pod tell us what you want to hear us talk about same with our email you can look down below in the description i've been in including our email down there in our past couple episodes so yeah uh we want to hear from you guys if you get a chance but
00:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, so Mercedes and I got a chance to see weapons. I guess I'll read the plot for this one. It says, when all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
00:09:21
Speaker
So I want to talk a little bit about Barbarian first, and then I want to hear your thoughts on Barbarian, Mercedes. A little backstory on my relationship to this movie. I was very hyped for this.
00:09:35
Speaker
Zach Kreger, I've been a fan of his work since I was in grade school a very long time. He was a part of a sketch comedy crew called The Whitest Kids You Know. ah You could look up videos like It's Saturday. That's a pretty popular one.
00:09:52
Speaker
It's kind of embarrassing. I thought I'd bring this up on the podcast, but in grade school, this girl that I used to have a crush on, I won't say her name. It was like a very early crush of mine. I would send her whitest kids, you know, videos.
00:10:06
Speaker
And like, i mean, she said she found them hilarious and it got us talking. It would like be a conversation starter. So yeah. His comedy was like a pretty big part of my life.
00:10:18
Speaker
And back when I was living in Arizona in 2022, I didn't even know he was the director of Barbarian until after I saw the movie. There was just this horror movie I heard that was a deeply upsetting basement horror movie.
00:10:33
Speaker
And I won't spoil Barbarian right now, but I had just went to see it late night after work, after hearing all of this hype. It must have been close to midnight.
00:10:44
Speaker
And I was pretty nervous. I was like, oh, I heard this movie's upsetting. And I thought it was. And it's a movie that I thought was great. I rewatched it in preparation for weapons. And I thought it was better than it was when I saw it in theaters. And I listened to Zach Kreger on I think it's a Script Apart podcast.
00:11:04
Speaker
for Barbarian and hearing him talk about how that movie got made is really awesome. I have a deep appreciation for Barbarian. So going into weapons, there was a lot riding on this for me. And I've found the marketing to be pretty fantastic for weapons too. I didn't watch many trailers, but the Maybookbrookmissing.com website and trailer like teaser I thought was pretty fantastic. I love a good viral marketing campaign.
00:11:34
Speaker
But Mercedes, what is your relationship to Barbarian? And are you familiar with the whitest kids you know? i am not familiar with that. But I find it so cute that you were you know sliding into those girls' DMs, sending her all that. is Yeah, MySpace days, man.
00:11:53
Speaker
oh MySpace, I love it. I miss it. Yeah, good times with that. But yeah, with Barbarian, i So I didn't see it when it was in theaters.
00:12:05
Speaker
i don't know why. There are times that when trailers come out, like I just miss them or I don't see a lot of advertisements for them. I did see ads for Barbarian, but I didn't watch the trailer. I just knew that Bill Skarsgård was in it.
00:12:22
Speaker
So I was like... okay you know he's probably the killer i don't i don't need to see that to know what's gonna happen but you know i was i i was intrigued but i i still didn't watch it for some reason i can kind of get why you didn't watch it i had only seen one trailer for it it did seem like bill skarsgård was the bad guy from that trailer But it's a movie that didn't really seem like it found much of a life until it hit HBO Max. It really blew up. I saw people really talking about it when it hit HBO Max.
00:12:57
Speaker
Yeah, because a few people that I worked with, they were all asking me, oh, have you watched Barbarian? And I said, no. They're like, you got to watch it. And I'm thinking like, really? It's that good? You think I'm going to like it? Okay.
00:13:10
Speaker
Not that I have like high ass standards or anything. But yeah, once I finally did watch it, Oh my God. Like I won't say spoilers, but I was like not expecting all the twists and turns that were in there.
00:13:26
Speaker
i didn't feel like there were cheesy jump scares or anything. it just really kept me on edge the whole time. So I enjoyed it. And then it was funny just seeing a review on it. Justin Long is in there and someone said like, you know,
00:13:46
Speaker
or not a review. It was a meme. Someone posted a picture of him from there. And it's like, when you see this guy, you know, shit's going to go down or like the movie's going to be good, something like that. So I was like, you know what? You're right. So yeah, but that that was a good movie. So then once you told me that it's the same director for Weapons, I got super excited because i figured this one has to be good if Barbarian was good.
00:14:14
Speaker
And Yeah, I wasn't disappointed. So weapons. i but I mean, I don't know about you, Mercedes. We kind of touched on it a little bit when you were in the theater, but we didn't or when you and I were both in the theater together, we didn't go full into detail. But I thought this movie was excellent.
00:14:36
Speaker
i really really enjoyed this one it's quite a ride i'm not going to spoil anything yet we'll announce our spoilers when we hop into it guys if you get a chance just i don't know what trailers have revealed from this movie but people in my life don't really seem to know what the mystery of this movie is And if you can, stop the podcast after we announce spoilers and go out and see this movie.
00:15:06
Speaker
It ah ah really is quite a ride. Zachary Kreger cited Magnolia as one of his influences. That's pretty all over this movie in the camera work. Not necessarily the structure.
00:15:20
Speaker
This movie is very structured, and I wouldn't call Magnolia a movie that's structured. And so that caught me off guard a little bit. I wouldn't say that's a spoiler,
00:15:31
Speaker
but Didn't take away from the experience at all, though. The movie really leans into the mystery. You're right there along with the characters.
00:15:43
Speaker
And I've found the characters, the the acting work from everybody in this movie, Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Alden Ehrenreich, June Day and Rafio from How Did This Get Made. That's pretty awesome that she's in this movie.
00:16:00
Speaker
The cast was great, and the characters are all very believable, and I really love the premise that this movie ends up having ah ah without giving anything away.
00:16:14
Speaker
It's just,
In-depth Analysis of 'Weapons'
00:16:16
Speaker
in my opinion, an all-around awesome time at the movies, and it Really, yeah it really worked for me. It's right up my alley, I'd say. But Mercedes, what were your initial thoughts on weapons?
00:16:31
Speaker
So when you sent me like the link for it in the trailer, i think I was about to fall asleep or I was already passing out. So when I watched it, I was like, what the fuck is this? Why are these creepy ass kids running like that?
00:16:47
Speaker
And i watched it, but I couldn't really like comprehend again. I was half asleep, essentially. But when we were in the theaters, Yeah, I was pretty blown away by this. ah that like Kind of echoing what you said, Julia Gardner, she's such a phenomenal actress. I love everything she's in, at least what I've seen. Her character in Ozark is just fucking insane. And then even in, what was it, Apartment fourteen a I think, that most recent movie,
00:17:23
Speaker
that was really fucked up too, or apartment seven, I sorry. yeah, that movie, like I loved her performance in there. So I had high hopes for her being in here as well.
00:17:36
Speaker
and I actually forgot she was in here until I saw her on the screen, but loved her. Even the rest of the cast, like, There's no one in here that I'm just like, all right, this is just like a bullshit side character. i feel like everyone has an essential piece to play in here.
00:17:57
Speaker
So I latched on to the cast right away as well. and Even the score of this film was so unsettling. It was giving me vibes from like insidious and not sinister, the conjuring.
00:18:15
Speaker
So I was thinking about that throughout the entire film as well. But I really liked it. And yeah, it threw me off completely. So another job well done by the director.
00:18:28
Speaker
Hell yeah, he's really good at twisty kind of movies. And you mentioned the score... It reminded me of Us,
Plot Twists & Spoilers for 'Weapons'
00:18:37
Speaker
actually, the Jordan Peele movie.
00:18:40
Speaker
There were certain elements of the Us score that this one reminded me of. I really dug it, though. It feels so it just accompanies what's happening on screen so well. I know that's a very cheesy thing to say, but I feel like the way the camera flows in this movie...
00:18:58
Speaker
This is what I mean in the way it reminds me of Magnolia. The camera is very kinetic in Magnolia. It's moving often, like 90% of the time. I would say the camera is zooming in with like creeping in closer, moving to the side, following somebody around.
00:19:16
Speaker
And that's what it's doing in this movie a lot. And I feel like the score goes hand in hand with the way it's shot very well. Yeah, definitely agree on that.
00:19:28
Speaker
You want to jump into spoilers now? ah do want to say that my initial thoughts on here, was that we just got out of the theater, so these are going to be very like reactionary thoughts on the movie, but I can say going ahead before we hop into spoilers, I don't think I'm going to have much negative to say on this movie. So listeners, if that gives you any kind of a hint of like,
00:19:52
Speaker
I mean, you listen, maybe you listen because you hate everything we have to say. But if you care about what we have to say and some kind of way, that should encourage you to go into the spoiler free if you can.
00:20:05
Speaker
So this is your last warning. But spoilers ahead for Zach Kreger's weapons. I guess the first spoiler we can talk about in the movie, and I don't know if this is in any of the marketing, I surely haven't seen it but like I said, I haven't really watched any trailers that reveal anything outside of the kids running and that voiceover that we hear at the beginning of this movie.
00:20:31
Speaker
But there's a triangle in the O when weapons comes up. And I did feel like there was more to that when the movie started. I was like, there's got to be a reason why they were hiding that.
00:20:44
Speaker
And I guess we can mention it later in the back half of this podcast. But I would say that triangle does have some significance to it. And it does kind of...
00:20:55
Speaker
I would say explain why the kids are running in almost a triangular kind of fashion. I feel like it all is kind of tied together in a very nice and interesting way. I'm purposely being vague. I just kind of want to save the reveal for around when that happens narratively.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah, because if they included that in um um the title for advertising and marketing, I feel like that would have given it away more because that completely took me off guard. I thought we were going into a different direction with this film. do you want to just say what it is? Just get it out of the way so we can maybe make connections as we talk about the first half of this movie?
00:21:42
Speaker
Yeah, go for it. Make it easier. Again, last chance spoilers. you know If you're ah risky person who really likes to tiptoe as close to the edge as you can, it's revealed that it's a witch that's behind all of this, which I was like...
00:22:00
Speaker
i would I would have never guessed that, to be honest. I hadn't guessed that. I wasn't trying too hard, but I was thinking maybe like the crazies, some type of government experiment, but then I was thinking like, this that would be a little too close to the crazies, but I didn't know that this movie was kind of combining.
00:22:21
Speaker
These are the movies that I picked in my head when the reveal happened. I was like, oh, it's like a combination of the Crazies and Kiki's delivery service.
00:22:32
Speaker
but So I think that triangle would have alluded to something, though, if that was in the title. And excluding that, I felt like did help with the ambiguity a little bit.
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah, I was talking about this with a buddy. Like I hate when and we've mentioned it before here on on here, too. i hate when like trailers include damn near everything from the film itself, that it's just like after you watch the trailer, you're like, well, I really don't even need to see the movie. I kind of know what happens.
00:23:09
Speaker
Or if you still go see the movie, you're like, I basically knew what was going to happen from the trailer. So it was such a smart move marketing part just to not include that.
00:23:22
Speaker
Because, yeah, there was a point where I'm like, oh, man, you know, we're getting into extraterrestrial territory here because there was a part where, you know, one of the dads, he's having a dream about his son and his son runs back into their house And he like starts looking up. I'm like, oh my God, they're about to show a UFO here.
00:23:47
Speaker
But then they show a fucking rifle and it has 217 it. And I'm like, yeah are we getting into, you know, the literal form of weapons now?
00:24:01
Speaker
So once they finally reveal like, oh shit, it's a, it's a witch it you know everything else clicked together because you even got like people basically in like was gonna say zombie form but more of a trance like actually under a spell but you know they look very similar to zombies so this thing was such a mind fuck So could you make sense of that assault rifle at all?
00:24:31
Speaker
I was just it was something I was puzzling over maybe because that was a dream sequence. I think he like gets separated from his body. and This is Josh Brolin's character.
00:24:43
Speaker
We're talking about Archer Graff, I think is his name. But Josh Brolin, I'll call him that. Josh Brolin's character is like separated from his body and wandering through the neighborhood and then over one of the houses. yeah it's an assault rifle with 217 on the side. And I was just wondering, is that just his deep subconscious?
00:25:04
Speaker
Does this guy play a lot of Call of Duty or something? I didn't fully understand it. Like, did you, maybe that's something he used to play with his son. i didn't fully get it. Did you know what the gun represented?
00:25:19
Speaker
I didn't. i was just like, okay, so they are just you know showing a fucking lethal weapon right here.
00:25:30
Speaker
So they're getting literal with the title, but it made no sense to me until he was having his conversation with Julia Gardner in here.
00:25:43
Speaker
I think her name is Justine in here. And he's explaining like how he's watching all the footage from the ring cameras showing their kids, you know, just dipping out in the middle of the night and where they are running towards.
00:25:59
Speaker
And there was a part where he's saying like, you know, the kids are being weaponized and I was like, oh, okay, that's where it's clicking. like They're calling the kids weapons, essentially.
00:26:11
Speaker
But I think maybe, like you said, the rifle was his subconscious trying to say like the kids are weapons. and Then where the the rifle was aiming towards was in the direction of where that kid ran to.
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah, so I feel like we're kind of in the ballpark with it a little bit. That was the only part of the movie that rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. I just didn't know what to make of it.
00:26:38
Speaker
But so I guess like to lay a little bit of the groundwork for this thing. This movie opens with a voiceover from... The character is just credited as narrator. It's a little girl, I assume, from maybe like a couple grades higher than the class that disappeared.
00:27:01
Speaker
ah ah She's delivering this narration, I think, two years after the events of this movie. I could be wrong, but she's just like, this is something you're not going to read about in the news.
00:27:12
Speaker
This is... And it's basically the narration that you can hear in all of the trailers if you want to go and look it up right now. But I felt like that was very nice groundwork and it makes the ending even more upsetting But so it's Julia Garner. It's her classroom that all of this happened with.
00:27:37
Speaker
And the town is basically revolting against her. This picks up like a month after the disappearance of all of the kids. Yeah, that's honestly like one of the scariest elements of this movie, I would say, are the people and the mob mentality that they have, especially in Julia Garner's kind of chapter, because this movie is chaptered off.
00:28:01
Speaker
It's sectioned off by like major character, essentially. And Julia Garner is the first one we see in Yeah, I felt like those moments were pretty terrifying because I believe that these people would maybe come together and take justice into their own hands and potentially kill this like pretty small woman.
00:28:21
Speaker
Yeah, because have all the parents essentially coming into school, and they're assembling for meeting kind over their grief and all. And you the one upset father, Archer.
00:28:37
Speaker
He is... you have the one upset father archer he is you know, getting pissed off, like, okay, well, why is it only that her class was, or why was her class the only one that was involved?
00:28:54
Speaker
You know, why did nothing happen to anybody else? You know, what was she teaching our kids? Like, yeah, parents would go fucking...
00:29:05
Speaker
far as fuck to like just start pointing the finger at her because yeah she is the only one in the room with them so what the hell happened and why wasn't she a part of it you know with them disappearing so of course they're going to point the finger on her And or at her and then they're just so antagonistic towards her throughout the rest of the film like you see she does have a bit of a you know drinking problem to cope with everything and I mean that's understandable because of what she's going through but you do see it kind of.
00:29:39
Speaker
it is an issue but she can't even go into the liquor store without someone like just freaking out on her the lady who freaks out on her is for a totally different reason that's who june dan rapio oh yeah i know that yeah it's because she's banging her like fiance or something but julia garner didn't know that they were fiancee So she's got other issues going on. She also has a record of one record of being inappropriate with a staff member at work and a record of maybe being a little too and like cro overstepping.
00:30:19
Speaker
ah ah like a boundary that she should be as a teacher, like driving kids home when they need a ride, you know? So she, people are already looking at her for other reasons too.
00:30:30
Speaker
Yeah. And it's like with those being, you know dark spots on her record, you would think you know teacher or're not teachers parents would have made like a little more pushback at the beginning of, well, I guess they wouldn't know about it, but you're offering a child a ride home. like Even if that is out of the goodness of your heart, like that's a little like out of the ordinary to do, especially because the kid is way under the age of even being like
00:31:02
Speaker
When people say, oh, you're a minor, like this kid is in elementary school, like you have no business having them in your car with you. Yeah, unless you know the parents or something personally, is pretty inappropriate to be driving a student home. There's precautions set in place just in case a kid doesn't get picked up. It's not a teacher's responsibility to really be doing that.
00:31:31
Speaker
So people are... I mean, Benedict Wong even tells her, like, you've overstepped these lines a couple times, so people might be pointing the finger at you.
00:31:41
Speaker
And she does continue throughout the movie to overstep boundaries. Benedict Wong is like, don't do this shit. And then she goes and does that shit ah ah time and time again throughout this movie, which is kind of believable, though. Her character felt very real to me, like someone who would...
00:32:01
Speaker
fuck up because she's like, well, I have good intentions. Like people like if I just approach this with my good intentions, everything will be OK. Yeah. and i love the fact that Benedict Wong, that's such a cool name in here, or a cool name.
00:32:21
Speaker
But I love the fact that, you know, when he's having the conversation with her, basically saying like, hey, take some time off so these parents can, you know, calm down, they can heal up a little bit, and though there will be no more altercation between you and anyone else.
00:32:38
Speaker
And, you know, she's just like, you see, she's getting a little upset because he is mentioning up like the shit she's done in her past. then she's saying, you know, I want to talk to my student, Alex Lilly.
00:32:53
Speaker
So he was the only one in her class that didn't like leave in the middle of the night like all the other students. And she's like, you know, it would really make me feel better to talk to him. And Wong interrupts her and is like, see, that's the thing.
00:33:10
Speaker
It's going to make you feel better. Let's put him first because he's been, you know, like questioned by the police. He's been like hounded every single day since the incident happened.
00:33:23
Speaker
And, you know, he's traumatized. So let's think about what's going to be best for him. I love that he said that just because like, yeah, you know, unfortunately, you weren't the only one affected here.
00:33:37
Speaker
Like this kid is also dealing with the backlash of this too. Yeah, I really bought ben Benedict Wong's character as, again, just as a person. And his response is to Julia Garner. I thought he handled everything with care.
00:33:54
Speaker
And we'll get fully into his character's outcome a little later. But he's the one where I was just like, damn Him, really? He's the one who's going to be getting it ah ah kind of the hardest. It's pretty devastating what he ends up doing and what ends up happening to him.
00:34:13
Speaker
He's a very lovable character, played by ah ah pretty awesome actor, honestly. It's Doctor Strange's friend. But... What I do appreciate this movie for, and I thought was kind of interesting, is like, so Alex, the other kid, the only kid in the classroom who didn't run off in the middle of the night, like you said, they do tell you pretty early on that he kind of has something to do with it. Julia Garner's like chapter or section of this movie, whatever you would want to call it,
00:34:47
Speaker
Juliet Garner's character stumbles upon at least the silhouettes of Alex's mom and dad pretty early on into the movie. And I thought that was very creepy. I started to wonder, like, are they zombies or something? And then at some point, the mom...
00:35:03
Speaker
creepily, like very creepily walks out of the house with a pair of scissors and stands right outside of Julia Garner's door and you think, oh, maybe she didn't notice her because she was asleep, almost like a T-Rex in Jurassic Park situation.
00:35:19
Speaker
And then you hear the car door open and it's like, oh no, this is much scarier. But all she does is take a lock of hair and we see what that is used for later but Man, it was so creepy. And every scene just leaves you with more and more questions. I feel like you the more the movie reveals, the more questions you have, like what the fuck is happening in this thing?
00:35:47
Speaker
Yeah, and it was pissing me off so much because, you know, Julia Gardner, she's trying her hardest to see, like, what's going on with Alex? You know, why is he, like, what's up with this house? She did see, she peeked in through a window. All the windows are just, like, taped up with newspapers. And she did see his parents just sitting there, and I'm like, oh, my God, they're probably dead.
00:36:11
Speaker
But then, yeah, once ah the mom comes out, And fucking gets in the car. i was horrified and did not know what was going to happen. But once I heard the scissors, I'm like, oh, she's just going to cut her hair.
00:36:23
Speaker
And that alone was just creepy. But it was just like, oh, my God, this can go so south for Julia Garner because She's just sitting there drinking and it's like that looks so inappropriate because you're a teacher who kind of just looks like she's stalking her student and she's drinking in her car and then falling asleep.
00:36:47
Speaker
Yeah. that That was just terrible. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop on that. Thankfully, it didn't. But... I was also thinking too, in an event like this, you know, when everyone, all the parents were basically trying to attack Julia in the beginning,
00:37:09
Speaker
there there was a guy there who was like escorting her to her car and asked her like, do you have anyone you could stay with tonight? And she shook her head and he's like, all right, then go straight home.
00:37:20
Speaker
You would think, you know, like they would have like, a policeman like at least staying outside her house and that just at least for that night because you know people were on the verge of like beating her ass or probably doing more damage to her so i'm surprised they didn't have that in here or anything of the sort That's a good call. And at one point I was thinking, oh, Alden Ehrenreich is going to be with her character throughout this movie.
00:37:53
Speaker
But then he ends up having other shit that he has to deal with. And I mean, when those scissors got involved, I thought maybe they were going to off Julia Garner's character that early on. I
Exploration of Community & Human Behavior
00:38:07
Speaker
was like, I haven't seen a trailer.
00:38:08
Speaker
Maybe they hid... It will that she's not in this thing, but I thought that would be a pretty ballsy movie if they move if they did. I'm glad they didn't. I want to touch on Alden Ehrenreich's character.
00:38:23
Speaker
His character's name is Paul. He's a police officer. I, I know he has just like typical police officer look. I've seen a lot of police officers that have his look, especially when I was a kid. It feels like, you know, the mustache is a very classic police officer look.
00:38:44
Speaker
It felt like they styled him to look just like John C. Reilly's police officer character in Magnolia. i Every time I saw him, I'm like, he looks like John C. Reilly, but he's not doing a John C. Reilly. He's not doing the sad sack I really want.
00:39:04
Speaker
to save this broken woman. He's kind of a bad guy at the end of the day when John C. Reilly's character was maybe the best guy in Magnolia.
00:39:16
Speaker
And I mean, I don't know if you thought that Alden Ehrenreich's character was a bad guy, but I mean, he seemed pretty shady. We can get into the details of what he's done, but what are your thoughts on his character?
00:39:29
Speaker
So, yeah, when they showed their initial interaction, you know, Julia just waves to him like a little trying to be subtle about it. And he just kind of stares at her.
00:39:42
Speaker
And then. Yeah, he doesn't look happy to see her. Exactly. And then later he goes to a bar to meet her and, you know, she's just kind of like, you know, why don't you want to drink with me whatever?
00:39:56
Speaker
And he's basically telling her, like, stop making everything about you. Get out of your head. And i fucking love that line, too, just because, you know, I do this as well. You know, as a female, well, I shouldn't say as a female, I think guys do it, too.
00:40:14
Speaker
But, you know, just as an overthinker. A lot of times I'm like, oh shit, what did I do? Or maybe I'm the problem or something. But realistically, the entire town was like pointing the finger at her. So she had a reason to do that.
00:40:28
Speaker
But it's like, okay, they clearly have a history together for him to say that shit to her face. And then you see that he is, you know, telling her, you know, things aren't going well between me and Donna, with the woman that he's with.
00:40:47
Speaker
And all of a sudden that changes her whole demeanor. And she just kind of lit up after. Well, he sleeps with her and you see they just kind of have like a really awkward conversation the next day.
00:41:03
Speaker
but What's cool about this movie is it's an anthology pretty much and you get to see points of views from all these other characters, which I did not expect either. but Then learning about him, you just see you know he's not feeling, I'm assuming this is his wife, he's like not feeling the relationship anymore.
00:41:27
Speaker
he i think she's his fiancee. Oh, okay. She is the daughter of his superior at work. and Then he fucking sees this one deadbeat trying to break into this building.
00:41:42
Speaker
he chases him. Once he pats him down, he is asking him, like do you have any weapons on you that might stick me? and The kid just kept saying no. And then the guy sticks his hand in his pocket. And then you see that there was a syringe in there that poked him.
00:42:00
Speaker
And the fucking cop punches the shit out of the guy. And I'm thinking like, that was such a bad move because I know damn well he's recorded. And sure enough, he's in the car trying to like clean his wound.
00:42:14
Speaker
And then he sees his dash cam right there and he's like, oh, fuck. And then disconnects it. So I'm like... wow, this, I am not liking this guy at all. And I did not expect that from his character when we first meet him.
00:42:29
Speaker
funny moment the moment when him and his superior are talking about the body cam in my head i was like oh yeah he told him earlier on in the movie make sure you keep your body cams on and then i realized oh wait that happened in the naked gun the liam neeson remake that i just saw a couple days ago that was a different police movie i was gonna say i don't remember that part Yeah, it was a really weird moment I had in my head where I combined the two police chief interactions. and It happens. From those two completely different movies.
00:43:10
Speaker
Naked Gun, good movie, pretty funny. yeah and Then you're just able to see just like what everyone else is going through. so You see Julia Gardner. She is just getting terrorized by everybody. Someone wrote witch on her car in red paint. Which I love. Yeah, I now I do. But at first when they wrote it, I'm like, why would they write witch instead of bitch on there? So i was like, OK, well, you know, maybe it was someone who didn't want to swear or some shit. I don't know. You know why?
00:43:48
Speaker
It's because Josh Brolin is somehow accidentally, he stumbles his way into like knowing what the fuck is happening. He guesses that a witch is behind it all somehow. like Because after the reveal of the witch, use like the next scene, you get a like shot of the car in the background the witch, and I'm like...
00:44:09
Speaker
Josh Brolin accidentally put it together. He called it from the very beginning. He's madman genius. Yeah, man. He was... was surprised that I ended up liking his character. And then it was just so crazy because you see him driving and he sees Julia Gardner at like pumping gas.
00:44:33
Speaker
So he just... like zooms in there and is trying to confront her and she's just like okay what are you gonna threaten me you're gonna do this and this and he's like I'm not doing that but he just wants her to like talk and say what happened to the kids because he's convinced that she knows what happens or what happened but then you just see someone running in the distance and you see it's Julia Gardner's uh the guy and uh Benedict Wong he
00:45:03
Speaker
is just running and I'm like, wait a minute. He's a fucking zombie because his face is all bloody. His eyes look like they're fucking protruding from his head and he's running in like that little aviation shape mode and he just attacks Julia Gardner and like...
00:45:23
Speaker
topples onto her on the ground and it was cool because uh josh brolin like tries to help her i'm like oh thank god like he wasn't gonna be like a dick like okay you know yeah he can do his thing he was actually being like hey you know what the fuck are you doing and tries to save her i love that part but oh my god it freaked me the fuck out Yeah, right when Benedict Wong comes in, Josh Brolin's like, okay, something else is at play. I like that he gets right on board with, okay, it's not fucking her.
00:45:58
Speaker
When I saw Benedict Wong, at first I didn't know that was him, but when I saw that formation, I was like, is Julia Garner imagining this right now? Is this like her daydreaming?
Supernatural Elements & Witch's Control
00:46:10
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:46:11
Speaker
And then when I realized there was a person, I was like absolutely terrified for her. And his face looked crazy. It was the makeup or whatever they did to him was so cool and insane. His eyes, like you said, protruding from his face.
00:46:28
Speaker
It was fucking pretty wild. I was so excited to revisit that scene. scene and i mean when we when marcus i think uh yeah that's his character's name when his character's name apart appeared on screen i was like yes we're finally going to get some kind of answer to what the fuck was going on with him but before we even get to him in alden ehrenreich's story too his ends with I think it's him and the drug dealer. both Their storylines are or the... Not drug dealer. He's like a druggie trying to pawn shit. Their storylines, I think, collide with Alden Ehrenreich picking him up and going into the the house, Alex's house.
00:47:14
Speaker
And he's in there like all night. And then he comes out and just rips this guy, James, out of the police car and drags him into the house. So...
00:47:24
Speaker
before you even get a reveal of what happened with benedict wong there's just weird shit that keeps happening and you're like well what is what about benedict wong why is he fucking eyes bugging up yeah cop is dragging the little juggy inside
00:47:45
Speaker
It was so fucking scary to me because, you know, the kid, he's just out for himself. you know, he's trying to like tell the police like, oh, I know where all the little kids are because he did break into Alex's house and he was trying to steal shit. He ended up in the basement and seeing all the little kids who were missing down there. And he's just like, oh, shit, you know, I can get a like a hefty reward if I let people know where they're at.
00:48:13
Speaker
And he's even like asking the cop like, hey, how do I or like telling him, how do I know like you're not going to, you know, steal this money, reward money from me. And the guy, he just doesn't even say shit.
00:48:25
Speaker
But the fact that he was in there for so long that it it was already pitch blackout and then starts dragging his ass in. It's like, what the fuck happened to this dude? And now what's going to happen to this little druggie right here?
00:48:39
Speaker
Yeah, you're just left with so many questions. I do like that he made that comment. Like, you're not going to steal the reward money from me. This is a movie that has sense of humor. Barbarian had a lot of funny moments.
00:48:52
Speaker
I think this movie is maybe funnier than Barbarian. I found myself laughing a good amount of the time at this movie. Like, he's... When James, I think that's the drug dealer or the druggie character's name...
00:49:09
Speaker
When his section of the movie starts, he's on the phone. i what With what seems like a fake phone call, I can't tell ah ah what he's talking about. Something about getting a suit? or but I don't remember what he was talking about. Maybe a uniform?
00:49:27
Speaker
But he's trying to like open up car doors like super early in the morning and he ends up stealing like a little girl's iPad. You can tell it's for like a very, very little girl. It looks like for someone who's younger than my nephew.
00:49:42
Speaker
He brings it to a pawn shop right when they open at 8 a.m. They're like, no, we're we're not taking this. This guy knows something's up. And. There's real subtle humor in there that really works.
00:49:53
Speaker
and Then there's moments like near the end, we'll get into it. There's a moment that had like everybody in our theater laughing. Even when they show Benedict Wong's back backstory, like you see he's on the phone with Julia Gardner just trying to you know ah ah deescalate the situation that she's bringing up.
00:50:18
Speaker
and you see him there with his partner and they're just gro they're at the store grocery shopping and it's cute you know how they just interact with each other and then they show them at home where his partner is just making like a tray of hot dogs for them and you see cookies and they look so excited Yeah, I was like, that's so cute. He just brings it over to them. They're sitting on their chairs just watching ah ah fucking disgusting show about bugs. It really wasn't that bad, but I i don't fuck with bugs on like a microscopic level. Well, i I agree with you. I don't fuck with bugs either in any way, shape, or form. I hate them. I murdered the shit out of a centipede yesterday. I squashed it
00:51:10
Speaker
so hard on the floor it exploded and I had to bring out a Swiffer and I just cleaned like the whole floor. I was like, this fucking sucks. Was it like a crunchy sound? and No, I hit it so hard it was just the sound of the objects connecting with the floor.
00:51:26
Speaker
i was like, someone's going to ask if I like had a serious fall or something. I was expecting a text or somebody to come and check on me or something.
00:51:38
Speaker
but Yeah, I wanted to crawl out of my skin, but they're watching something about what appears to be, i don't know if it's some kind of fungus, I want to say, or parasite taking over ants. I thought it was a fungus, but maybe it's a parasite.
00:51:55
Speaker
And it was talking about it spreading and needing multiple ants. And then there's a moment later in the classroom when it's Alex's chapter of the story.
00:52:06
Speaker
It begins with Julia Garner talking about a parasite taking over a host. And it was pointing us in a direction. That is so fucking true. I love when they make little connections like that in movies because I always overlook them.
00:52:23
Speaker
And obviously with the little ant part on the TV, I looked away and that's when, or no, wait, that was a different time. But yeah, I looked away because I'm like, yeah, I can't deal with seeing all that shit.
00:52:36
Speaker
But yeah, when they focus on Alex's story, you find out, you know, he he has parents. Obviously, he's living with his parents and they're preparing for his aunt who's coming to stay with them because she's sick.
00:52:51
Speaker
And you see the dad's not really on board with it, but he's going along with it for his wife. the kid's not happy about it but you know they do it um and the kid he gets curious he opens the room the aunt is staying in um you see a wig on her dresser and then he looks at the bed i'm like i already know what's gonna happen He just is like eyeing her all the way up and she's just staring dead at him looking disgusting and he freaks out.
00:53:27
Speaker
And then whenever they do show her, She has like a weird-ass face full of makeup, and her lipstick is all smudged. I was like, who the fuck is this Raggedy Ann? Because you do see her in different parts of the anthology, because when Josh Brolin is dreaming that he's talking to his son, like at some point he's trying to say, I love you, and you get the jump scare of her being in the bed.
00:53:55
Speaker
And I was like, who the fuck was that? And then even with the cop chasing the little druggie, or I think it was the druggie just running in the woods, he sees her.
00:54:06
Speaker
And I'm like, who the hell is this woman they keep seeing? But yeah, you end up finding out like, That's this kid's aunt. and yeah Alex's dad normally drives him to and from school, and one day he sees that you know he isn't there. so He just walks home, and then you see... like the aunt sitting with the parents and the parents are in like this sluggish state and you're like wait a minute the parents are sitting in the you find the parents sitting in the petrified state and that kind of explains a little bit what was going on in benedict wong's section of the movie so like
00:54:52
Speaker
Earlier on, and I think it's the chapter right before this when we're in Benedict Wong's section, he's in the principal's office and there's supposed to be a meeting with his two parents.
00:55:04
Speaker
And instead, that lady that you were saying we keep seeing throughout the movie steps into his office and is just like i'm stepping i'm sitting in his parents are sick or whatever and he's just like oh well we need to actually see his parents and i thought benedict wong was gonna go to the house and that's how we were eventually gonna get to this but so at this point did you know this lady was a witch No, I didn't. I was just like, okay, what the fuck is this woman's problem? Because she's over here saying like, I'm basically filling in for the kid's parents because they're sick. And he's like, oh, well, I didn't know they were sick. Like, what's going on with them? And she's like, oh, it's nothing bad. It's like, dude, you are shooting yourself in the foot. Like, if they aren't sick, sick,
00:55:58
Speaker
What is going on and why are you here? i just, i was so confused by her character. she says a disease that's from like maybe hundreds of years ago. I forgot the comment that Benedict Wong makes, but he's like, are you talking about tuberculosis?
00:56:16
Speaker
But she, God, I wish I remembered what it was, but she was mentioning basically a disease that doesn't exist anymore, which would kind of allude to there is something supernatural with this chick. Like she's maybe eternal. I was,
00:56:33
Speaker
worried a little bit where they were going to go with this. I was like, is this goingnna be some weird David Lynch kind of thing where this character is just here and it's like a character came to town and inexplicable things started happening and there's no explanation it.
00:56:50
Speaker
behind it but they eventual So then later on, we get a little bit more of Benedict Wong's character. It's when he's like serving hot dogs and everything, with when him and his partner are having a good time together.
00:57:09
Speaker
and i mean i thought their relationship was actually absolutely like adorable. I love those two characters. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, but this is when I don't know if you mentioned this already.
00:57:20
Speaker
This lady comes like a knocking at the door. I don't remember exactly how it plays out, but they just like invite her in. It's like, no, don't.
00:57:30
Speaker
What are you doing, man? Don't invite her in. Yeah, his like she's saying like, oh my God, like i basically I'm like you know about to pass out. Can I just have some water? And he was trying to say like, you know, I don't think this is a good idea. It's a Saturday. Why are you here?
00:57:48
Speaker
But his partner comes up and is like, oh, of course we could do that. It's like, dude, did you not tell this guy that you met the craziest woman ever a few days prior and now she's just randomly showing up on your doorstep?
00:58:01
Speaker
saying like a million different things right now, that didn't make sense. And I think when she was talking to him in the school, she said like they were suffering from consumption. Yeah, and so she asked for a bowl of water, and I was like, all right, she's either about to start lapping this shit up like a dog or something, some weird thing is about to start happening. And right after she gets the bowl of water from Benedict Wong, she pulls out...
00:58:37
Speaker
a stick and immediately I was like that's a fucking wand I said it out loud I was like she's a wizard I don't know if you heard that or not a wizard wi I said I was like yeah immediately when she pulled out was like she's a witch and I said it real quick like that but yeah i was like that's a fucking wand she's got and benedict wong is like ah ah she had a ribbon on it that belonged to him and uh she cuts her own she cuts her own finger with it and starts rubbing her blood on it and then i want to say she breaks it in half and that makes benedict wong go ballistic and
00:59:17
Speaker
He attacks his husband and just bashes his face into him until his husband's face doesn't exist anymore. Just headbutts him to death on the ground.
00:59:28
Speaker
It's pretty fucked up. It's ah ah really one of the most upsetting deaths I've seen in horror movies to like recent memory that isn't over the top in a final destination type of way.
00:59:41
Speaker
Yes, especially because while he is just destroying his partner, witch is just like you know cleaning herself up, washing her hands, and just putting everything else away.
00:59:57
Speaker
and You hear him still going at it on his partner. and It's like, dude, he's dead already. like Stop. and Then finally, she takes the stick out of the bowl and then he stops, but then she wraps Julia Gardner's hair around him or around the stick, snaps that, and then all of a sudden, like that's when he goes to attack her at the gas station scene.
01:00:28
Speaker
that ha man and Then they even show like the remains of this guy. he literally had no fucking head anymore. That was disgusting.
01:00:39
Speaker
Yeah, Zach Kregor likes a head just being completely demolished. He had Justin... Spoilers for Barbarian. You have a little bit to skip it.
01:00:51
Speaker
Justin Long's head gets ripped in half at the end of that movie. And this movie has at least three... Moments with devastated heads, I would say. So it's Benedict Wong's partner.
01:01:07
Speaker
And then so I'll get into the next one right now. Benedict Wong and Josh Brolin are like going at it in the supermarket.
01:01:16
Speaker
This guy's like, get the fuck out of here. Get out of my supermarket. Josh Brolin's there helping her out. And she ends up being able to get in her car and she gets to drive away. And Bennett Wong is just booking it for her in that triangle formation. Josh Brolin's following her.
01:01:35
Speaker
And he, it looks like he's trying to run Bennett Wong down. This guy, Josh Brolin. And, There is something about him. He feels very realistic. He feels very, like, gun-toting American. I will take actions into my own hands. He reminds me of Hugh Jackman in Prisoners a little bit. Like, maybe he would go to those crazy lengths. Mercedes, watch Prisoners if you haven't.
01:02:03
Speaker
And if you like Josh Brolin's character. Will do. But... Benedict Wong, as he's chasing him, someone else accidentally hits him and his fucking skull is like demolished. If I'm remembering this correctly too.
01:02:17
Speaker
i I, forgot about that, but everyone in the theater was just laughing. it was pretty funny. it was. is Yeah. He, he was ran over. he was, his whole face was fucking eviscerated and, yeah,
01:02:32
Speaker
It's like, I hate seeing scenes like that because freaks me out. It's like there's something that's supposed to be there and that's not there. And maybe that's why i have a phobia of holes because, again, there's and unwanted space where, you know, it should be filled. There should be matter there and nothing is there.
01:02:55
Speaker
That makes me so fucking uncomfortable. so Yeah, I've noticed this guy, he likes to, you know, destroy some heads in here.
01:03:06
Speaker
Now, you've mentioned your ago agoraphobia. It's not that. I've heard titryptophobia. Yeah. Titryptophobia. You've mentioned that before.
01:03:18
Speaker
I was wondering, like, little side thing, we'll get right back into the movie. In the Mortal Kombat 2 trailer, I was wondering if Baraka's teeth bothered you in any way. I think that character is Baraka.
01:03:29
Speaker
It kind of did. i was just like, that looks so cool and disturbing at the same time. but it didn't bother me to the point where I needed to look away. So yeah, that's cool that you caught on to that too. Yeah.
01:03:44
Speaker
But so, yeah, after Benedict Wong gets fully demolished, I want to say that's when we're, yeah, we're in Alex's story and you've already got us pretty caught up on the ant is coming over. There's a setup of the ant.
01:03:58
Speaker
The dad feels very 90s. He feels like almost like Bob Saget in Full House, kind of not fully, but he has that like sound. He's got that look a little bit. I was like, this guy looks like ninety s sitcom dad, kind of. And he's like,
01:04:15
Speaker
I mean, the weird ant... I mean, so I guess well I'll start here. We don't have to like fully go beat for beat for it, but I didn't buy for a second that this was an ant. I was like, she put some witch spell on this family, and that's must be that's why i say Kiki's to live Delivery Service. like That movie, it's different. It's for kids. It's a very sweet movie. I love it, but...
01:04:38
Speaker
A witch goes to town to find a job, and she's like, this is this town's witch, and she gets employment there using her witch powers, and she ends up coming she creates a delivery service.
Climactic Showdown & Resolution
01:04:51
Speaker
This kind of reminded me of that in a way where I'm like, there must be in this world. There are witches that are just like, I'm going to take residence in a town and I'm just going to kind of control the town a little bit.
01:05:04
Speaker
And I feel like she was just like any random person, any random house. Somehow she puts a spell on them. Like, I'm your aunt, your aunt from they haven't seen in however long. And I'm coming to town. It's like an aunt or a sister, right? Is it the mom's sister or the mom's aunt?
01:05:20
Speaker
It's her aunt. And that was another thing, too, because she's having a conversation with her husband in their bathroom and Alex is walking in and, you know, just eavesdropping.
01:05:32
Speaker
And he's saying like, you know, the husband is saying, you know, we can I think he said we could send her to a home or, you know, whatever. She's like, no, my mom would do this for her.
01:05:43
Speaker
So I'm going to do it, too. But they were basically saying that they don't really know her, but they're doing it just because of, you know, it being family. and it's like, hey, if I don't know a relative well enough, there's no way in fuck you are staying in my house, let alone staying in my house for me to fucking kind of be a care provider for you.
01:06:06
Speaker
get the fuck out of here. Like, I don't really like people being in my house to begin with. So a stranger like that coming in for me to take care of you and look after you, you could fucking die at that point. I don't give a fuck.
01:06:19
Speaker
I think they were already under some type of witch spell before she even stepped foot in the house. There was maybe some interaction. The witch found the mom out in the real world and something happened that we didn't see.
01:06:35
Speaker
And the parents are under the spell and invite the witch into the house, basically. that that was kind of my read of the whole thing was that they they weren't related in any way they they were a part of a spell from the very beginning of alex's chapter i could see why you could you'd see it that way like i don't know to me i feel like okay she probably was related to them but she's just giving like a sob story like oh i need looking after and i need help and
01:07:08
Speaker
because you see they still have like their personalities intact. like They're not like lifeless zombies at that moment when she's coming over, even when they're still talking to Alex. so I view it a little differently. The way that the witch is showing Alex...
01:07:30
Speaker
you know showing alex like hey, if you utter a word to this to anybody, this is what's going to happen. and you see her do that little like fucking witchcraft brujaria shit with the the stick and their hair and whatever. She pricks her finger, breaks it, and then they start stabbing themselves in the face with forks and...
01:07:56
Speaker
She's just like, you know, it can get worse if you tell someone. And then you see why Alex is like so dismissive of Julia Gardner when she wants to talk to him, why he's just like not speaking at all. He's super quiet after that. And you just see him, you know, tending to his parents because he just has to fucking feed them soup throughout the rest of the time. And then you see he's also caring for the kids in the basement because, yeah, the aunt, like you see, she's pretty much dying and like let Alex know, you know, I thought your parents were going to be able to help me, but they can't. Maybe you can help me.
01:08:40
Speaker
just bring me something of all of the students in your class um before before we fully get into that i do kind of want to like dispute something a little bit i i feel like the parents personalities are intact throughout the whole process even when they're stabbing themselves in the face when they're sitting at that dining room there's still a bit of them that i think is showing throughout all of this and I don't think they're under the same spell necessarily that everybody else like everybody else is just like, we're going to sit still and we're just, essentially we are just weapons. But his parents, it almost looks like their life is just being drained. Like she's latched onto them in a certain way.
01:09:27
Speaker
And that's almost like what she's doing with the kids. Like these people she's keeping for some kind of energy source that she's feeding off of. As opposed to like everybody else is just a weapon that she's using to attack people who are trying to undermine her. Do you know what I mean?
01:09:43
Speaker
But like the parents, even Alden Ehrenreich's character, when I feel like there's a bit of his personality in there, too, when he's attacking Julia Garner later in the movie. Like, do you get what I'm saying a little bit?
01:09:57
Speaker
I get what you're saying. i just see it as them just being under her spell and saying what she wants them to say because both of them both of the kids' parents were just like, hey, buddy, how was school? like Just so flat and bland. so It's like,
01:10:19
Speaker
okay, they're no longer there anymore. She's just getting them to say that. That way the kid doesn't get suspicious right away, but he already was. but i mean I get what you're saying, though.
01:10:31
Speaker
there was something to the way that they were kind of delivering their, their scripted dialogue. It it felt almost like reminded me a little bit of evil dead where the people are somewhere in there and they're constantly trying to fight back. And sometimes you can see them fighting back. I felt like,
01:10:52
Speaker
In that moment, that whole dinner scene, you could kind of see them inside but trying to fight back against whatever spell that they were under. And they're really the only characters that I got a lot of that we're trying to fight back energy from. There was a bit of that, too, I felt like with Alden Ehrenreich when his face was getting scraped apart. Oh, my God.
01:11:15
Speaker
i forgot about that part. Yeah, I feel like he tries he breaks a bit from the spell for a second when his face is being scraped.
01:11:25
Speaker
And it's kind of unfortunate what happens to him. We'll be getting to all of that in a second. But did you want to go into yeah the reveal of what happened to all of the kids?
01:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, after she told or the witch told Alex like, hey, just bring something that belongs to all of the students in your classroom and then that should help me, you know, get better and I can go away.
01:11:53
Speaker
So he just steals like name tags from all of their little cubbies at school. That's where Julia Gardner kind of talks to him and is like, hey, if there's anything wrong or if there's anything you want to talk about, you know, you could talk to me. And he's just like, you know, trying play it cool still.
01:12:11
Speaker
He gives all those name tags to the witch and she does like her little ritual at later that night at 2.15 and you see like, oh shit, she's getting everything ready. And then, you know, does her thing and that's when all the fucking kids like...
01:12:31
Speaker
start running to their house at 2 17 a.m. and they all like go to the basement. So essentially, yeah, she's like sucking the lives out of them.
01:12:43
Speaker
I really enjoyed that explanation. i i don't know about you, but part of me, part of my worry going into this movie was, is the mystery going to be greater than the explanation?
01:12:55
Speaker
And I like that it was as weird as a witch is just casting a spell. This happens to be the time that the witch casts the spell at. And it's just luring kids over to one location so it can feed off of their energy because it's There's just something about a kid's life form or a kid's spirit. I don't know. We don't need to know that.
01:13:19
Speaker
Kids are just full of life. And that's like the witch just feeds off of them a little better. I feel like it, this is a movie that feels like it really trusts the audience with the, to like put the pieces together on their own.
01:13:32
Speaker
And I really appreciate that about it. I thought that scene was just very well done. And I really, really enjoyed the explanation behind it all. With them explaining everything and doing the reveal, i did enjoy it because watching every scene just like pan out and seeing all the questions that were just arising with both of us, it was like, how are they going to explain this? Because they already eliminated Julia Gardner for being
01:14:05
Speaker
the the culprit here. they They didn't really lean into, you know, the UFO idea that I was, or theory that I was thinking of.
01:14:18
Speaker
And then you do see some zombies, but that doesn't, like, make sense. So, How are they going to pull this off? What's going to be like the fucking ding, ding, ding moment here?
01:14:31
Speaker
But the fact that, yes, it is a witch doing witchcraft and she that was the whole reason as to why all these kids fucking like ran over to their house.
01:14:43
Speaker
That was such a fucking insane wraparound because you wouldn't have guessed that when going into a movie titled Weapons and just seeing all these little kids on the poster.
01:14:57
Speaker
i did not think that's how this movie was going to be revealed. so Such a good plot twist us though. Right when they like fully laid it out This is a Witch, my immediate thought was, oh my god. like Well, one, it's awesome that it was a witch movie disguised as something else.
01:15:17
Speaker
I thought that was pretty clever. You would have never known. But now this movie will live in the pantheon of, in my opinion, great witch movies. like It's a top-tier witch film.
01:15:30
Speaker
But I mean, i haven't seen that many witch films that i really, really dig. I i guess like Suspiria might be the only one that's really up there for me. You got the Blair Witch, even though that's kind of like not really witchy, but kind of witchy. You got the Craft. That one is great.
01:15:49
Speaker
A lot of people like Practical Magic. I kind of don't, but I guess we're getting a Practical Magic 2, so we'll see how that ends up in theaters. but yeah No, this is a good witch film. I enjoy it.
01:16:02
Speaker
Hocus Pocus. How could I forget that? The original, not the sequel. Let's not get into, you know, like the witches of Eastwick that too.
01:16:13
Speaker
Damn. So yeah, I thought the reveal was pretty great. And then the movie from there on out, it kicks pretty much into high gear. It's Julia Garner and Josh Roland. They go over to Alex's house and,
01:16:29
Speaker
I like that they have the setup, like don't cross the salt that's on the floor. The witch tells Alex that right before like Julia Garner and Josh Brolin show up and they show up and they just like briefly cross the salt and Alden Ehrenreich just, they both, uh, both possess people. Alden Ehrenreich's character and Austin Abrams character go right for Julia Garner and Josh Brolin. It's, uh,
01:16:57
Speaker
pretty funny sequence honestly josh brolin keeps tossing this druggie around and he just keeps coming back and coming back and julia garner is getting pretty trashed by alden erenreich it's she's scraping his face but he's pretty formidable i mean she She's very small, and I do like that they didn't make her some kind of superhero by the end of this. She was pretty out of her depth in a lot of these situations.
01:17:34
Speaker
and I like a move that Alex makes. He's... realizes that two people are here that could potentially save him. So he crosses the salt line to make his parents come after him to get away from the witch's door. I assume that's what his plan was. I'll make the parents get away from the witch's door so they can get up to the witch.
01:17:57
Speaker
And at a certain point, Julia Garner shoots Alden Ehrenreich's character. Josh Brolin ends up taking care of the druggie, and he ends up downstairs and finds all of the kids.
01:18:11
Speaker
And, you know, feel free to interrupt me or interject if I'm missing any details along the way. We just saw it. I'm still a little fuzzy on how everything plays out beat for beat.
01:18:22
Speaker
But Alex eventually gets to the witch after this crazy shining-esque sequence in the bathroom where his mom is just going fucking crazy trying to go after him.
01:18:36
Speaker
But he gets the witch's sticks and he's, I guess, just been around her, seeing her do her spells enough and reverses the shit on her. Flips the spell on her, breaks the stick.
01:18:49
Speaker
And all of the kids turn into essentially weapons, if this is what the title is alluding to. But he weaponizes the kids against her and they end up chasing right after her. I mean, what do you think of this end sequence leading up to this point?
01:19:06
Speaker
They show josh Brolin go downstairs. He's looking for his son, and then the witch is actually downstairs, and then i guess does her little magic because – He all of a sudden came upstairs and started attacking Julia Gardner.
01:19:26
Speaker
So then, you know, she's following him kind of just like egging him on like, yeah, you know, keep keep at it or whatever. And then once she heard Alex snap the stick, she was like, oh, no, like, oh, shit. And that's when all the kids started chasing her.
01:19:42
Speaker
I fucking loved it because it's like, good. Now you see this frail woman. Really, you see how she really does look because like, you know, she needs more souls to feed off of. and she's just running throughout the neighborhood you
01:20:05
Speaker
Just going into all these open doors and then you see all these kids fucking breaking into the windows and doors chasing her. And yeah, part was so amusing. Our theater thought it was pretty funny.
01:20:17
Speaker
I mean, it fucking She was just like, just going into like someone's kitchen and they're looking like, what the fuck? And then all these kids break in and they start freaking out.
01:20:28
Speaker
But then finally one girl catches up to her and all of them take turns and they're all old they're all just piling in on fucking like tearing this woman to shreds.
01:20:41
Speaker
It was amazing. And they fucking do their final wha-bang of tearing her fucking face apart, her head apart. That was also disgusting.
01:20:54
Speaker
Real quick, you did mention Josh Brolin getting possessed. She rips his, like, a necklace off that he has that causes him to get possessed. But, right like, the sequence at the end that we're talking about with the kids chasing the witch It can't be understated how fucking like wild this sequence is. thought it was absolutely incredible what I was watching on screen. like So this old lady, like she's bald and she's got like three or four braids. It looks funny and creepy at the same time.
01:21:32
Speaker
And she's booking it. like She knows she's in for something bad and you're just... I mean, I know she's evil to an extent. I was like, oh, man, I feel bad because I know whatever she's got coming is going to be horrific. Fuck her.
01:21:49
Speaker
the It just, I knew whatever was going to happen was going to be horrendous, and I wasn't ready for it. I was like, oh, man.
01:22:00
Speaker
Keep running, keep running. Oh, this it was I was scared of those kids. I was imagining myself in those shoes and I was afraid of those kids running for my life because like they're just smashing through every window, destroying houses. Again, it's a very funny sequence and then we get almost like a third person pov shot like a video game of like one of the girls we're following her she's like the main girl now and she's just bursting through windows i would love to see how this was shot like there's a point where they're all piling on top of like a fence and the whole door collapses and there's kids all like
01:22:41
Speaker
toppling over each other falling it was ridiculous it was one of my favorite moments i've seen in a movie all year it was absolutely insane i will think about this sequence like forever i can't think of another horror movie with or a movie in general with a sequence that involves this much physical chaos from children Yeah, there is so much chaos going on with these kids, and I love how they all have like that you know abnormal strength at this moment to just break through doors and windows to chase this fucking witch.
01:23:21
Speaker
And then once they are all attacking her on the ground, It's just so fucking intense. and it's like You would think you would see this type of like behavior from the parents or from the adults at some point in here, and you don't they all kind of tone it back a little bit unless they were you know possessed.
01:23:49
Speaker
But you're seeing all of this... like fucking blood and you know bloodshed happening at the hands of all these little kids and it's just that makes it even more unsettling to watch because it's like damn look at what these kids did they basically mutilated this witch with just their bare hands Yeah, and I was telling you this like before we left the theater.
01:24:17
Speaker
I actually got pretty emotional. I almost got moved to tears, actually. I was pretty close to crying when those kids were ripping her apart. There was something...
01:24:29
Speaker
That felt so beautiful. It was one of the most satisfying endings to a movie that I think I've seen all year. It felt like justice.
01:24:39
Speaker
And in a way, this is going to sound weird. And I don't want to like sound like this
Emotional Impact & Reflections on 'Weapons'
01:24:44
Speaker
guy, but it kind of... You know, this movie is reminiscent of like children who have been kidnapped or children who get like locked in basements or maybe never found again or children who just go through traumatic experiences in general at the hands of adults.
01:25:04
Speaker
And i mean, that's something that breaks my heart, to be honest. It's especially since my nephew was born into this world. It's like Stuff with kids that happens like really hits home for me. It like hits a sensitive spot.
01:25:21
Speaker
And when all of that was happening, i it almost felt like this weird fictional justice that like these kids get to have for this traumatic experience. And but there was something very cathartic about it.
01:25:36
Speaker
And it felt like a good release from like all of the tension that we've been having... throughout this whole movie and I mean the movie kind of undermines that release in a very very dark way but I mean even like there's a literal release happening in that moment because that all of that running is being cross cut with Josh Brolin choking Julia Garner and when the witch is mutilated and we just see her skull is gone or whatever Josh Brolin releases Julia Garner it's like
01:26:10
Speaker
You almost get to breathe for the first time been the whole two hours you've been sitting there. Yeah. and Then at that point, once you see that you know ah you know ah Josh Brolin steps out of it, essentially, he's completely normal. He's back to himself. and He's you know walking outside. You would think he'd be running at this point.
01:26:36
Speaker
But he's walking outside following like the trail of the mass destruction that these kids just created. That was a very good scene. i like him ah ah kind of just following where they could have went.
01:26:48
Speaker
You see Julia Gardner, she goes upstairs and Alex is hugging his parents, but they are still in like, you know, it looks like they're still in their little petrified state because they're not hugging him back. You just see like their posture is just straight up.
01:27:09
Speaker
they're kneeling. And once Josh Brolin gets to where the kids are at in the one yard, all of them are basically in like a circular formation around the witch.
01:27:22
Speaker
And he sees his son, he calls him, and then he goes and hugs him. The kid doesn't hug him back, though. But like, you know, And he picks him up and then just starts walking away. And then you hear the narrator just start talking and saying, like, you know, Alex's parents still need to be fed soup. It's just not by him.
01:27:48
Speaker
and you know, he's staying with like a different aunt, like outside of state now. and they show you know Josh Brolin walking away with his son, and you just see the son, his expression is just blank, and he's looking forward, and you hear the narrator say, like you know some of the kids have started talking this year or so, and it's like, wait a minute.
01:28:15
Speaker
so They don't get to snap out of it. They're still like in their possessed state. like It ends on a disappointing note, like, damn, instead of happier note. real bummer of a note.
01:28:32
Speaker
It's one where, because, yeah, like I said, it was very cathartic watching those kids rip apart that witch. And then, I mean, it was kind of funny, too, the reveal that Josh Brolin's son was Alex's bully. i felt like that was...
01:28:49
Speaker
kind of appropriate. Like this bully was their interactions were kind of funny. I know bullying's wrong, but he bullied him in a very funny kind of way.
01:29:00
Speaker
I got a a ah lot of laughs out of that character. But yeah, it is so melancholy. Like the shot of them walking in the voiceover of the little girl saying some of them started talking again.
01:29:13
Speaker
it was very eerie. And it ends on that note where it just like, yeah, these kids are going to live and be affected by this for the rest of their lives. their problem but Some of them may not be able to get past this. And mean, that is the harsh reality of life. Again, like kids having traumatic experiences brought onto them by the hands of adults and it basically staying with them. And, you know, I'm trying to talk about this sensitively, but
01:29:46
Speaker
It was kind of a real harsh reminder of, yeah, everything's over right now. The bad thing has stopped. But it doesn't mean that these kids are going to have an easy time getting past this if they can get past it at all.
01:30:04
Speaker
The kids are not okay. I mean, i guess it's a very appropriate ending for the movie. It's just one where it doesn't send you out of the movie theater feeling good by the end. Even though I was like moved to a pretty emotional place, by the end of it, the last note is just like, also not everybody is going to be okay, if anybody is going to be okay at all.
01:30:31
Speaker
I mean, people are dead
Speculations on Sequel and Future Films
01:30:32
Speaker
too. A small amount of people are dead, but people are dead. Yeah, and it just shows like how affected everyone is. like When it's just one kid, you know the whole community knows about it and they feel it, but this was just you know intensified because it was a whole classroom of students, of these kids that you know fucking ran off in the middle of the night. and That's another thing too. They ran off like-
01:31:05
Speaker
willingly No one broke into these houses. no one like lured them into a van or anything. They all fucking ran out in the middle of the night and just vanished. No one knew where they went.
01:31:18
Speaker
So that makes it even more disturbing because it's like, okay, they all disappeared in a manner that you don't typically see.
01:31:29
Speaker
Like they willingly ran off. What the fuck happened to them? Now that the parents are going to be able to have them back, it's like, all right, well, what exactly happened?
01:31:41
Speaker
And, you know, what steps do we need to take to kind of get them to you? talk again or you know, get them to some state of normalcy, if that's even in their future. So it, it was a hard ending to see, but you know, it was one that I can at least like, you know, respect for what it was.
01:32:05
Speaker
Now, I'm going to pose this before we wrap up. i know this movie was probably not made with a sequel in mind. And if it does well, which I hope it does well, I hope people go out and see this. And if you're listening to this and you haven't seen it, go see it. I feel like people should spend their money on this. So more just big swings like this get to be taken, especially in the horror genre.
01:32:32
Speaker
There was a lot of... creative control that was allowed in this thing. I mean, after Barbarian, this script sold for a crazy amount of money. i think there was like a big bidding war.
01:32:44
Speaker
And I'd like to see more of that, like pay with your dollar, show people that this is what we want more of, especially if you dig this movie. It's one that I can't wait to see a second time. I'm to see it tomorrow with my girlfriend actually.
01:32:59
Speaker
yeah, I want to say i would be down for a weapons too, even if it's like there's no witch involved and it's just the kids and them going to therapy and really processing this. I would...
01:33:16
Speaker
I would like to spend more time in this world. I gotta say, I, this movie could have been longer. I wasn't ready for it to end. I could have watched a whole nother hour of this thing, I would say. So I wouldn't mind getting more movies set in the weapons world.
01:33:33
Speaker
I wouldn't mind getting more witch stuff. I liked this witch. I like this witch a lot. And, Shout out to Amy Madigan. Her performance was fantastic and creepy and funny in all the right ways.
01:33:47
Speaker
yeah If I can be like, I fucking hate this character in here. you understood the assignment because my God, i was waiting for her to fucking meet her demise. So once she did, justice was served there. I definitely want to see this again just because i feel like Maybe we'll find, obviously we'll find more details that we missed. And fuck, man, it was just so disturbing. But it's something that I would want to rewatch because some movies that have like these messages in them, they're kind of like a one and done type of watch. But this one, no, I could see myself rewatching it.
01:34:28
Speaker
would you watch a weapons too? Do you think there's room for weapons too? I'm not saying, you know, I don't like to be the sequel guy. I'd be like, let's make everything a franchise, but I like the world of this movie. And maybe that just means I like the world of Zachary Kregger movies. And I want more Zach Kregger.
01:34:45
Speaker
crager pictures out there but there's something about this where i was like give me another give me weapons to two more hours of whatever he can imagine from this or continue the story i would have liked it to keep going i would have been fine sitting in the theater taking in more of this i don't hate the idea of them coming out with a sequel if it back to, you know, the kids' stories and just showing how they're coping in therapy, dealing with all their past trauma, and, you know, just like living day to day on it.
01:35:24
Speaker
wouldn't be opposed to it, but at the same time, it's like, I'm getting kind of annoyed with everyone coming out with a sequel when, you know, the ending doesn't really show that it can call for one or that it needs one.
01:35:39
Speaker
But, you know, if they come out with it, I won't be mad. I mean, there's a two year gap from when we're watching the movie and when we're hearing the narration. And the town has covered this up for some reason. Somebody has covered this up for some reason.
01:35:58
Speaker
ah ah And now kids are just starting to speak. I feel like at the time of the narration, that is a very interesting point to pick up. Like, maybe not make it about a witch, but make it about the town. Make it about the people. Make it about the kids.
01:36:15
Speaker
And I would like... You know, I mean... I'm sure it being left up to imagination is intentional, but there's just something about this movie.
01:36:26
Speaker
I would like to see more from these characters and how everybody copes with this. That being said, I did find the ending appropriately melancholy.
01:36:40
Speaker
But yeah, any final thoughts on the film before we wrap up? No, I want to say I... covered everything shout out to toby huss very small role funny in his role as the the captain of the police department and shout out to june diane refio it's great seeing her pop up i saw she's a part of the how did this get made podcast they cover bad movies they're very funny podcasts i got to see them live in chicago It's just awesome seeing her pop up. It's much in line with seeing Zachary Kreger to direct movies now. Sing Joondae and Rayfeo pop up in something. Just anybody from a comedy background succeeding.
01:37:23
Speaker
I really enjoy. But yeah, this movie, close to a 10 out of 10 for me right now. I fucking dig it. Again, if you haven't seen it, go see it. Give this movie
Podcast Growth & Future Plans
01:37:34
Speaker
your money. I'd like to see this movie succeed. I think it deserves it.
01:37:39
Speaker
Again, I don't know if it's a 10 out of 10. I'm still on the edge. I need to process it a bit more, but it's close. It's almost there. It's at the very least a movie worth seeing and discussing.
01:37:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think if we rewatch it, that'll give us like a better idea on how we want to rate it. But yeah, this movie, it's good. it fucking flips you all over the place with all of its plot twists.
01:38:04
Speaker
Worth watching in theaters. And yeah, just keep the suspense going with this, man. It was fucking amazing. Hell yeah. Well, that's been our weapons talk, guys. We hope you enjoyed it. Hope you enjoyed the movie just as much as we did too. And if you're a fan of the podcast, follow us on Apple podcast, follow us on Spotify, rate us five stars on either.
01:38:29
Speaker
Leave us a five star review on Apple podcast. If you can, we would really appreciate it yeah, Tell a friend about the podcast too. If you haven't, it would really help us out. Maybe they would like to hear some horror talk, but we'd like to see our fan base gross. And And ah we'd like to hear a lot from you guys.
01:38:49
Speaker
ah ah Mercedes, if you want to share the Instagram with the people. Yeah, just reach out to us on any of our posts or like message us. Again, want to do a listener's where you know we could do like a listen's pick where If they suggest something, because a couple of people have been suggesting movies that we should cover, we can, you know, do like a special where we go into like, you know, listener's pick for the month and like review that movie, kind of like a bonus episode or something.
01:39:24
Speaker
But yeah, it's fun to, you know, go into different conversations with you guys. You hear our opinions on these movies. We want to hear your opinions on them. Because horror movies, like the genre itself, it's endless. And there's just so much to unveil. So yeah, just write in, tune in on us week. And yeah, just keep on listening.
01:39:47
Speaker
And guys, there's going to be a little bit of a change to our schedule. You're getting this episode early, so Monday the 11th we will not be dropping an episode.
01:39:58
Speaker
And the 18th we're going to be taking that day off. Life is getting a little busy, so we figured it'll just be a little easier to keep recording, but just take a day off from, or take a week off from releasing. So...
01:40:12
Speaker
So Monday, August 25th, we will be back to releasing new episodes of the podcast, starting with Final Destination. We're going to be kicking off that season.
01:40:23
Speaker
We hope you guys will join us. We've been Morbid Curiosities. Let's fucking go!