The Kids-in-Peril Stuff in 'Weapons' Messed Me Up and My Kid Isn’t Even Born Yet

I'm losing my edge

Poor kid. Warner Bros. Pictures

I remember when I was little my mom talking about turning the movie Ransom off after a few minutes. That’s the Mel Gibson movie where his son gets kidnapped¹. The scene where he realizes his son is missing made her too anxious to watch.

I didn’t think that would ever happen to me. I thought I would always have the critical distance to not be so affected by a movie or show that relates to something I’m personally anxious about that I can’t watch it.

But my wife is pregnant with our first child, and the kids-in-peril stuff in Weapons really fucked me up.

Seeing the way the institutions and adults in his life fail Alex — the school, the police, his family — really disturbed me in a way I haven’t felt before. The way that something can be wrong and people either don’t see it, or see it and can’t do anything about it, or see it and don’t do anything about it. Obviously, I’ve seen this in other works of art and in, you know, in the world, but it hit me differently knowing that I’m bringing a kid into this world, where they will almost certainly have classmates who fall through the cracks the way Alex does. It’s a hard world for little things.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought the movie was terrific. Stephen King and David Lynch are two of my favorites, and the way Zach Cregger marries Lynchian imagery with a Kingian story is so gratifying and cool. I didn’t love it the way I loved Barbarian, which was funnier and unfolded in a more pleasurably surprising way, but I still thought it was a rich text with really scary moments and a distinctive point of view. Cregger is the real deal.

I saw people saying that there’s a school shooting theme in Weapons, which seems like a big stretch to me. I think that’s reading too much into the image of a mostly empty classroom and the narrative piece of a town dealing with the aftermath of losing several of its children. It’s the conspiratorial urge to over-interpret something. But the themes of addiction are very clearly there, and Cregger has been open about that. Most of the major characters in this movie are addicted to something. It’s junk food for Benedict Wong and anger for Josh Brolin. The idea of addiction as a malevolent, supernatural force that takes over your life is always resonant to me. That’s what the greatest horror movie ever made is about. There was even a nod to The Shining in Weapons when Alex’s parents bust through the door. The implication that the film’s monster and therefore addiction is a parasite made me think of System of a Down — “Pull the tapeworm out of your ass, hey!”

These are just some thoughts on the movie. I don’t have any structure to wrap this up. So I don’t know, I guess becoming a dad is going to make me softer. Baby’s due in October. Dad Shows is becoming a dad.

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Yesterday, the Television Critics Association, of which I am a member, announced the TCA Award winners for 2025. There’s no award ceremony this year, sadly, so instead the winners were announced via videos. I announced the winner for Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch. Please don’t watch the video, it’s embarrassing:

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You can watch the other videos — which include an acceptance speech from Elmo — on the TCA’s Instagram.

Here’s the list of winners:

Program of the Year — “The Pitt” (HBO Max)

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy — “The Studio” (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Achievement in Drama — “The Pitt” (HBO Max)

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials — “Adolescence” (Netflix)

Outstanding New Program — “The Pitt” (HBO Max)

Individual Achievement in Drama — Noah Wyle, “The Pitt” (HBO Max)

Individual Achievement in Comedy — Bridget Everett, “Somebody Somewhere” (HBO)

Outstanding Achievement in News and Information — “Pee-wee as Himself” (HBO)

Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch — “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (NBC)

Outstanding Achievement in Reality — “The Traitors” (Peacock) (2024 Winner)

Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming — “Doctor Who” (Disney+) (2024 Winner)

Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming — “Sesame Street” — (HBO)

Career Achievement Award – Kathy Bates

Heritage Award – “Sesame Street”

My ballot included Nathan Fielder for Individual Achievement in Comedy, because he literally learned how to fly a plane for the bit. As an all-time Individual Achievement in Comedy, it’s up there with the house falling down around Buster Keaton and Borat going to the rodeo and Rob Mac gaining all that weight and then getting super jacked.

1. I’ve never seen Ransom, but I just learned it was the fifth-highest-grossing movie of 1996 and was written by Richard Price. No one ever talks about it. It’s a blockbuster so forgotten it rarely makes lists of forgotten blockbusters.