Three years ago, writer-director Zack Cregger stunned critics and fans alike with his horror thriller Barbarian. Now, he’s back with another original mystery out in cinemas today called Weapons. Critically acclaimed with 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the new horror stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, and Alden Ehrenreich. The unsettling plot follows a case where 17 children from the same school class run out of their homes towards an unknown location in the middle of the night and go missing. Check out the spoiler-free review highlights below.

Empire

A hugely accomplished horror achievement, and a significant step up from Barbarian: tense, sad, hilarious, unsettling, ridiculously entertaining, and ultimately oddly uplifting.

Time Out

Put simply, if Weapons wasn’t the best horror movie of the year — pipping even the mighty Sinners — it would probably be the best comedy.

Variety

Cregger has achieved something remarkable here, crafting a cruel and twisted bedtime story of the sort the Brothers Grimm might have spun.

HeyUGuys

A moody, mournful, and exquisitely crafted mystery-horror that solidifies Zach Cregger as one of the most vital voices in genre cinema today. It is a meditation on grief, silence, and the horrors of loss. I doubt I’ll see a better horror movie this year.

Radio Times

It’s the deft way in which [Cregger] goes about juggling those tones – the serious and the silly, the panic-provoking and the laughter-inducing – that makes Weapons such a refreshingly entertaining triumph

Total Film

Zack Cregger has struck gold again with Weapons, a twisted fairytale that bests the director’s horror debut, Barbarian. Hiding a positively terrifying villain, the movie’s stellar ensemble cast and a compelling mystery keep you hooked to the bloody end.

Weapons is out now in UK cinemas.