In-Between Seens

In this in-between seasons episode, Jason and Dave sit down to hash out their mixed—mostly frustrated—feelings about Zach Cregger’s Weapons. After the runaway success of Barbarian, expectations were sky-high for his follow-up, but what audiences got was a muddled horror mystery that overpromised and underdelivered. The premise—seventeen children vanishing at 2:17 a.m. while one is left behind—had the makings of a chilling thriller, yet the film leans so heavily into atmosphere and shock that it sacrifices character depth and narrative clarity. The result is a movie that feels stylish but hollow, more interested in piling on bizarre twists than building a story worth caring about. Throughout the episode, the hosts break down what worked in fleeting moments—some striking visuals, a few tense sequences—but return again and again to the sense of wasted potential. They question whether Justine, the teacher at the story’s center, was ever truly developed as a character, and if the supernatural twist with Gladys the witch actually cheapened the more compelling theme of communal grief and suspicion. Even the surprise casting of Toby Huss feels like a distraction rather than a clever touch. In the end, Jason and Dave agree that Weapons is a rare case of a film collapsing under the weight of its own hype, leaving them more disappointed than disturbed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.