Together v Weapons (article)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 30 July 2026

Last summer, two supernatural horror films were released just one week apart from each other. But which is the best of the two?

Together

Together takes the form of a body horror. A couple in a strained relationship (Dave Franco and Alison Brie) move to the countryside, only to find a mysterious force taking over them.

The film opens with a man searching for a missing couple. His accompanying two dogs drink water from an underground cave and later start graphically merging together.

In the present, Tim and Millie’s relationship is fractured, especially when Tim delays in answering Millie’s proposal. Tim is particularly distant following the deaths of his parents; cue the horrifying flashback in which Tim’s dad dies of natural curses but his mum suffers a psychotic break and sits in bed for days beside his decaying corpse.

Out hiking, Tim and Millie fall into the underground cave and spend the night there, waiting out the storm, where Tim drinks the water. They then slowly find themselves partially stuck together, with Tim experiencing an uncontrollable desire for Millie on multiple increasingly disturbing occasions, culminating in the gruesome scene in which they have to saw their arms apart.

It is revealed that the underground cave is a New Age church that collapsed and that its members would drink the water to cause them to merge together as one. Millie’s new colleague Jamie, who had spoken of his seemingly deceased husband, is actually the amalgamation of the two partners. Meanwhile, Tim returns to the cave for answers and finds a terrifying monster that is a merger of the missing couple, who suffered this fate as a result of resisting. Realising there is no other alternative, Tim and Millie eventually succumb and, in a chilling final scene, open the door to Millie’s parents as one combined person.

Together is a good story idea but told in a boring way. The pacing fails as, even with a strong conclusion, it is not gripping throughout.

Weapons

Weapons is a mystery horror. It surrounds the event of a class full of children minus one going missing at 2:17am one night when they all run out of their homes. Security cameras capture some of them leaving the house but not where they went.

The film adopts a non-linear approach in which elements of the story are told through different characters. First up is class teacher Justine (Julia Garner), who resorts to alcoholism and sleeps with her ex-boyfriend police officer Paul after the bizarre event leaves angry parents to blame her, assuming something must have happened in the classroom. She is targeted and someone spray paints WITCH on her car. She is known for being overly-attentive with her pupils and visits the house of Alex, the singular pupil not to disappear, only to find the windows mysteriously covered in newspaper and she peaks through a gap to find Alex’s parents sitting still. Alex’s mother later cuts a lock of Justine’s hair while she sleeps.

The focus then turns to Archer, the father of one of the missing children, as he experiences nightmares and obsesses over finding his son. He confronts Justine, only for her softly-spoken boss Marcus to then maniacally attack her, prompting him to rescue her. 

Attention moves on to Paul as he has a run-in with homeless drug addict James when he is pricked by one of his needles. James then burglarises Alex’s house and finds the missing children in the basement. After seeing a mysterious woman in the woods where he camps, he informs Paul of his discovery. Paul then goes to the house to investigate and comes out hours later, attacking James.

School principal Marcus is encouraged by Justine to carry out a wellbeing check on Alex. He is accosted in his office by the same mysterious woman from the woods, who introduces herself as Alex’s eccentric Aunt Gladys, claiming that Alex’s parents are ill and she is looking after them, though Marcus still insists on seeing them. She later visits him at his house under the guise of needing a glass of water and cuts a lock of his husband’s hair, ties it around a stick that she purposefully cuts herself on and snaps it, prompting Marcus to brutally murder his husband, all in a jaw-dropping WTF moment.

The final chapter is on Alex. It is revealed that his Aunt Gladys is actually a witch who weaponises others to maintain her longevity, explaining the seemingly unrelated film title. She utilised Alex’s parents and scared Alex into secrecy and abeyance by showing him that she can control them to do anything. Realising that adults aren’t enough, she turned her attention to children and forced Alex to bring her belongings of all of his classmates, controlling all of them to come to her and stay in the basement. In a truly epic scene, Alex uses the totem to cast a spell on Gladys herself, unleashing all the children, who chase her through the neighbourhood and tear her apart. This frees all her captives and it is announced that some of the children eventually learnt how to talk again.

Weapons is one of the weirdest films ever, yet this doesn’t stop it from being absolutely brilliant. The most chilling aspect is the terrifying posture of the spellbound characters running with their arms out in an unnatural and childlike manner, while Amy Madigan deserves praise for her haunting portrayal of Aunt Gladys. A genius element is how the reveal hides in plain sight throughout the majority of the film with the graffiti on Justine’s car. Another clever move is how Alex is never placed under a spell as Gladys controls him through fear alone. Furthermore, the complex storytelling method creates opportunities for different interpretations.

Both films offer an intriguing plot, but only Weapons executes it perfectly. Weapons is compelling throughout, whereas Together lulls until the ending. Both deliver on a mindbending conclusion, though Weapons is a truly unique film in all aspects. Therefore, Weapons is undeniably the best of the two and actually one of the best horror films of all time.