Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS overlaps with Atom Egoyan’s THE SWEET HEREAFTER in both its broad narrative setup — a town grapples with the sudden disappearance of a group of children — and its non-traditional structure, but diverges considerably in its tone. Then again, WEAPONS diverges considerably from its own tone as it goes on, artfully shifting gears as it makes its way through a story that prioritizes entertainment value over horror allegory. We’re joined once again by Vulture movie critic Alison Willmore to talk about why that approach worked so well on us, and less so on the film’s detractors, before bringing THE SWEET HEREAFTER back in to discuss how each film’s broken timeline serves to reveal the intricacies of a community shattered by grief and anger. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we offer two recommendations for follow-up viewing, one for each half of this pairing.

Please share your thoughts about THE SWEET HEREAFTER, WEAPONS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Spike Lee’s HIGHEST 2 LOWEST and Akira Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:14

Weapons discussion: 00:02:14 - 00:36:00

Weapons/The Sweet Hereafter Connections: 00:36:00-00:58:58

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:58:58-end

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