Movies Need to Challenge Me to Accept or Reject Something

For this post, I have elected to apply a strengths / weaknesses approach to reflecting on our latest installment for this blog. The movie we watched, Weapons, invites this approach for several reasons:

STRENGTH: I love how this movie reinvented the zombie-like creature. Having zombies run with their arms straight and eyes wide open is an element of horror in and of itself. No makeup is needed.

WEAKNESS: There is an unimaginative reason for the trance that our zombie characters are in. I'll let you watch the movie to figure out what that is. No spoilers here. It's not a bad reason, just an unexciting one. Can we say deus ex machina?

STRENGTH: I enjoyed following each of the characters in this story. They were interesting and endearing enough to keep my interest. I also found them relatable: teacher, father, principal, child.

WEAKNESS: I dislike having stories that are fragmented; I don’t like going back and forth in time throughout a story. Pulp Fiction is the exception, of course. Otherwise, don’t do it. Be yourself.

STRENGTH: The realistic setting draws audiences in at the outset. We can see ourselves living in this world, and that makes an immediate connection with us. The site of the greatest conflict? A classroom. 

It is a great movie if you want an original spins on zombie characters. The movie did not, however, invite me to reflect more deeply on myself or the world around me. A good movie has a line that’s repeated to challenge me to accept or reject something about the world around me.  

Weapons (2025) - IMDb . 

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