The end of “weapons” is very personal for Zach Cregger

You can’t watch a movie like Weapons And not feel that parts of it come in the depths of a person. Representations of family, fear and loss – everything is heartbreaking and scary before you even go to chills and thrills. The writer-director Zach Cregger fully admits that the film was written as a means for him to face the loss of a good friend, but his personal ties with the material goes even beyond.

Addressing Vanity Fair, Congger has spoken of some of the great revelations of the final act of the film and the way they were inspired by his own education. Spoilers to follow.

In the film, we learn that the only survivor of disappearance in class, Alex (Cary Christopher), secretly takes care of his parents, who were possessed by the magic of his aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan). Alex has to cook, clean and feed his parents, who sit there completely helpless, as well as a way to make sure they keep the appearance of something normal. “It’s no longer a newspaper entry on me,” said Cregger about the scenario. “The last chapter of this film is a right autobiographical.

Of course, in WeaponsAlex’s parents are not alcoholics. Cregger has decided to make this parallel a little less obvious by making the influence on the parents of Alex Supernatural. However, he is supposed to evoke the same feelings. “This foreign substance comes into play and changes everyone’s behavior,” said Cregger. “The house becomes a scary place. You can go to school and act as if everything was cool, then you get home and you hide from a zombie parent. It seemed so real to me. ”

Knowing Cregger has created this scenario as a little so to work through your childhood struggles adds even more catharsis to the possible triumph of Alex on Gladys and the return of his parents. And yet, according to the final line of the film, not all children recover from the trauma. Which seems both sad and realistic.

Weapons is now in theaters. Find out more of Cregger on making the film here and here. And head to Vanity Fair to find out more about the end, including the look and the story of Gladys.

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