Weapons (4 Stars)

This is an intriguing mystery, though it's obvious from the beginning that the explanation must be supernatural.

One morning Justine, a third grade teacher, arrives in her classroom and finds it empty. Almost empty. Of the 18 children in the class, only one boy arrives. No other children are missing, only in Justine's class. The day goes by, and there's no trace of the children. The only clue is in the CCTV cameras outside the houses of a few parents. The children all ran from their homes at 2:17 in the morning, with their arms outstretched as if they were imitating planes. Unfortunately, the video footage isn't complete enough to show their destination.

The school is closed for weeks while investigations are ongoing. The parents blame Justine, saying that she must have kidnapped them. The house of the remaining boy is searched for clues. Nothing.

The film is told in a non-linear fashion. There are six segments, following the lives of six individuals in the town from the incident onwards. Sometimes the stories overlap when they meet each other. We see the stories of Justine, a grieving father, a policeman, a vagabond, the school principal and finally the remaining boy. The clues are compounded with each new segment.

This is an excellent horror story that depends on an unnerving atmosphere to win over the audience. The absence of jump scares is welcome. It's not that I have anything against jump scares, but they would have been out of place in "Weapons". It deserves to be a box office success in the midst of today's flops.

Maybe the film's title is a spoiler.