Weapons (#714)

I watched all two hours and eight minutes of WEAPONS because I wanted to see what happened. It was a mystery and a thriller and I needed closure. The film is basically a Hollywood version of a documentary, supposedly based on a true life serial killer in California who was known as Mister Shiny, a man who killed countless people during a 30-year career, It begins when an entire classroom of children (with one exception) disappears on the same night st the same time. The film follows events by jumping from interviews of the investigators to depiction of what is happening. The townspeople are outraged by what appears to be a lack of progress and focus their concern on the class teacher and the classmate who wasn't taken, The investigation eventually points to several unsolved murders and mutilations all over California and points to an individual who is identified by the media as Mr. Shiny, but they cannot find him or the missing children. Things get very weird when the aunt of the boy left out comes to visit his parents. There are a number of bizarre episodes as the investigators close in on Shiny, and all hell breaks loose. I was intrigued enough to want to see the ending which disappointed me. It stars someone named Josh Brolin, a name I recognize because his father was an actor who is married to Barbra Streisand, I think Brolin was the parent of one of the missing children, and Julia Garner was the mousey looking teacher. The visiting aunt really scared me as did some of the other events. But I was hooked and stayed on and on. 96% of critics and 87% of audiences gave Weapons a thumbs up. I don't know who came up with the title or why.