“Weapons,” the latest horror film from writer-director Zach Cregger, known for his brilliantly deranged 2022 hit “Barbarian,” delves into a chilling mystery that begins at 2:17 a.m. on a school night. Seventeen children from Justine Gandy’s third-grade class in the sleepy suburban Pennsylvania town of Maybrook inexplicably run out of their homes, arms outstretched like airplanes, and vanish into the night. Only one shy boy, Alex, is spared, leaving the community bewildered and angry.

Cregger’s approach to this supernatural premise is unconventionally intriguing, as a local girl narrates the seemingly inexplicable events. The film, which has crossed $100 million at the domestic box office and $172.6 million worldwide from a $38 million budget, significantly expands the scope of his sinister powers of suggestion. It explores the threats lurking behind seemingly innocuous environments, turning mild-mannered parents into an angry mob searching for answers.

Instead of focusing on a single protagonist, Cregger splinters the mystery among six key individuals, separating the narrative into distinct chapters. Each section rewinds the story, replaying key scenes from different perspectives—the teacher Justine (Julia Garner), the parent Archer Graff (Josh Brolin) whose son Matt is missing, a troubled cop (Alden Ehrenreich), a school administrator (Benedict Wong), and two other undisclosed characters. This prismatic structure provides fresh insights, piecing together details like the identity of the person who scrawled “WITCH” on Justine’s car and the reason a scuzzy junkie (Austin Abrams) approaches the police station.

The film channels real-world anxieties, with parents questioning school personnel and policies, echoing QAnon-style conspiracies or the painful aftermath of a school shooting. For more than an hour, “Weapons” maintains a grimly self-serious tone, reinforced by Larkin Seiple’s steady camerawork and a bone-vibrating score. However, an unexpected campy turn arrives with the appearance of Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys, an interloper with smeared clown-like makeup and uneven eyeballs, who blends humor and repulsion in a distinctive way.

As the narrative progresses, Cregger ups the ante by introducing an adult turned homicidal by the same suggestive force that compelled the children to flee. The violence escalates in the home stretch, where the title’s meaning becomes clear: the community is made up of “targets” and “weapons,” with anything from an impressionable child to a vegetable peeler capable of being rendered dangerous. While the artfully oblique approach initially allows imaginations to run wild, the emergence of a single, inevitably limiting explanation causes the film to lose some of its edge for certain viewers.

Regardless of how audiences feel about its darkly comic finale, Cregger has crafted a cruel and twisted bedtime story akin to the Brothers Grimm, where characters kill on command and ambiguity reigns. This success follows his breakout hit “Barbarian,” solidifying his reputation as one of Hollywood’s fastest-rising filmmakers. He is next set to adapt the popular horror video game “Resident Evil” for Sony, re-teaming with “Weapons” star Austin Abrams.