Is ‘Weapons’ Based on a True Story?

For a story about 17 kids who disappear from their homes in the middle of the night, it feels silly to ask is this real? Well it would, if not for the opening lines of Weapons , “this is a true story.” That narration comes from the voice of a little girl and gives urban legend. It’s a clever trick by writer-director Zach Cregger, who knows exactly what those words do to an audience.

But even with that, Weapons is not a documentary. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

With a nearly perfect Rotten Tomato score, Weapons follows a small town’s unraveling after 17 children vanish in the middle of the night. The film’s structure borrows from the “multi-perspective” tradition, hopping between the viewpoints of a guilt-ridden teacher (Julia Garner), a grieving father (Josh Brolin), a conflicted sma