Zach Cregger’s upcoming horror movie Weapons has just released its first trailer, and the new movie already looks even more terrifying than his 2022 film, Barbarian. The trailer for Weapons opens with a voiceover from a child who states, “this is a true story that happened in my town” before revealing that an entire class of students from one school went missing at precisely 2:17 am. After learning that her entire class is missing, the teacher and the parents of the missing children begin to descend into madness to learn the truth.

Weapons features an impressive cast led by Julia Garner as Justine Gandy, the teacher of the missing class, and Josh Brolin as Archer Graff, the parent of one of the missing children. The trailer reveals just enough to get audiences excited (and terrified) but not so much as to give anything away, making Weapons even more intriguing. Weapons is currently scheduled to be released on August 8, 2025, by Warner Bros., and with the new details from the trailer, it is already shaping up to become one of the best horror movies of 2025.

Weapons’ Trailer Focuses On A Lot Of Different Fears

The Movie Is Going To Go To Some Dark Places

With just a short trailer, Weapons is already promising to tap into some big fears for audiences. On its surface, it is already clear that Weapons will deal with the horrifying possibility for parents that something could happen to their child, especially something as mysterious as them simply running away in the middle of the night. The fact that the children all leave at exactly the same time also hints at the larger community’s fears that the movie will develop, as the town meeting seen in the trailer clearly shows people beginning to panic.

Beyond the very real fears that it will approach through the disappearances of the children, Weapons‘ trailer also promises some much more supernatural-seeming problems. In brief flashes, audiences are shown images of a ravenous horde running into the street, black goo being poured on someone, a woman stabbing her own face with a fork, and a child creepily painted with clown makeup sitting in Ms. Gandy’s classroom. In short, it seems there will be a lot of terrifying things happening in Weapons that no one in the small town was prepared for.

Barbarian’s Success Means Weapons Needed To Be Horrifying

Cregger’s 2022 Horror Movie Was A Huge Success, And Weapons Will Need To Match Its Scares

Zach Cregger’s 2022 horror film Barbarian became a mᴀssive critical and commercial success when it was released, in part thanks to just how shocking it was. The movie lulls audiences into thinking that its main character, Tess, is in danger from her unexpected housemate, Keith, but Barbarian quickly becomes something much darker and more unnatural. The movie’s shocking twists made it incredibly original and incredibly scary when it was released, and Weapons will need to prove that Cregger can tap into that same disturbing place again.

So far, Weapons‘ trailer has not given away too much, and that is perfect. The level of mystery that surrounds the movie hints that it will follow the same tack as Barbarian of luring viewers into expecting one type of horror movie and giving them something else. Especially considering the flashing images of increasingly disturbing scenes near the end of the trailer, Weapons is going to be far more than just an exploration of missing children and the psychological toll that takes on parents.

More specifically, Weapons seems to be going down a more supernatural path than Barbarian did. Cregger’s previous horror film did a great job of making scares out of the evil acts committed by one man. While Weapons will likely be grounded in some similar message, the Weapons trailer also hints that there could be some type of witchcraft or possession involved. The children all disappear at the same time, hinting at its significance, and the trailer also shows someone stepping over a salt barrier, implying that the characters believe something otherworldly is involved.

I’m Excited For A Lot Of 2025’s Horror Movies, But Weapons Might Be The Coolest

With Many IP Horror Movies On The Horizon, Weapons Looks To Be An Entertaining Original

Given how much I enjoyed Barbarian when it came out, Weapons sounds like a very promising follow-up and certainly one of 2025’s most exciting horror movies. It can be hard to find a truly shocking horror movie, and I have high hopes that Zach Cregger will be able to pull off the success of Barbarian again through a completely different film. Weapons‘ trailer already makes it seem like it will be completely different from horror movies that audiences have seen in the past, even if it does utilize some of the common notes, like missing children or sinister forces.

2025 has a fair number of highly anticipated horror movies being released, but many of them are IP movies building on franchises that already exist or remaking well-known stories. While there is something enjoyable about returning to well-loved horror series like the 28 Days franchise or fun teen slashers like I Know What You Did Last Summer, the level of familiarity with those worlds can do as much harm as good. The movies often feel lackluster and expected compared to their predecessors, so something totally new like Weapons is much cooler.