Weapons is a thriller/horror film that has attracted widespread attention. It stars an all-star cast with the likes of Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan. It’s a crazy cast with a crazier story.
Seventeen children from a single classroom all went missing at the exact same time: 2:17 AM. Only one student, Alex (Cary Christopher), was left. The classroom teacher, Justine, also remained.
The mystery swirled. What happened to the missing kids? Why could no one find them? Would it happen again?
The questions left in the community made for a great movie. There was doubt, suspicion, and anger.
What do we have in organizations? All of those emotions and feelings and more.
Let’s dive into the Reel Leadership lessons in Weapons. You might be surprised at what you can pull out of a thriller/horror movie.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Weapons
1. Narrator (Scarlett Sher):
This is a true story.
Weapons opens with the voice of a child narrating what is happening. She begins by telling moviegoers that Weapons is a true story.
Guess what? Weapons is not a true story. Director Zach Cregger states that the film is inspired by the stories of missing children and some personal experiences.
That doesn’t make it a true story.
We have to be cautious in what we believe. The stories we hear? We need to examine them to verify their accuracy. Or if they’re not…
Too many people believe wild, crazy stories these days. They don’t analyze what they’re told. They just believe.
Make sure you’re not believing a lie.
2. Monitoring will only go so far:
Seventeen kids walked out of their homes at the same time. Almost every disappearance was caught on their family’s Ring doorbell.
The kids exit the house. They extend their arms. And they run Naruto-style through the streets until they disappear.
The Ring doorbells only caught their exits. They were unable to see where they had gone or what had happened.
The surveillance systems didn’t catch everything.
Despite what you may feel or think, you can only monitor a certain amount of activity. You won’t be able to catch every action of every employee.
And that’s okay.
You don’t need to know what your employees are doing every moment of every day behind their desks.
Monitor what needs to be monitored. Be okay with what is missed.
3. Justine:
I would feel so much better if I could talk to him.
Justine had been prohibited from being a part of her students’ lives. The school felt she interjected herself too much, too often.
As Marcus, the school principal, talks to Justine, he tells her that Alex has been moved to another classroom. Justine wouldn’t be able to talk to him.
Justine feels like something is off. Alex was probably struggling as well. Both of them were the only ones left. Still, Marcus wouldn’t budge.
That’s when Justine hit Marcus with this line, maybe the perfect line of the movie… She would feel so much better if she could talk to him.
When’s the last time you talked, really talked, to your people? When’s the last time you wanted to talk to them?
Great leaders interact with their people. They understand they need to play a part in their worklives.
Be a leader who talks to their people. Be a leader who desires to speak to their people.
4. Paul:
Try to get out of your head.
Paul came across as a possible ex-boyfriend of Justine’s. He had a relationship with Donna (June Diane Raphael), but they were on the rocks.
Justine asked Paul to come to the bar. She needed someone to talk to. Paul asks Justine if he could give her some advice. She said okay.
What does Paul tell her? He tells Justine to get out of her head. To stop overthinking everything. To stop thinking everyone is focused on her.
Great leaders can’t be stuck in their heads all of the time. They have to be willing to enter reality.
Are you stuck in your head? Get out of it. Find ways to interact with others. Find ways to enter the real world.
5. Distracted leaders mess up more often:
Archer, a home contractor, shows up at a building site. His foreman is waiting for him. Something was wrong.
What was wrong? Archer had forgotten to order siding. That wasn’t all. Archer also painted the front door the wrong color.
Archer was distracted. Rightfully so. His son was one of the kids who were missing.
Still, he had responsibilities to tend to. His distractions led to issues.
Are you distracted? Does your mind wander away from your responsibilities?
Get back on track. Focus your full attention on the matter at hand.
The more focused you are, the fewer mistakes you’ll make.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask multiple times:
Archer came up with an idea. He would try to triangulate where the children had gone. He had seen his own son flee out of the house in a purposeful direction.
Other kids had to do the same.
Archer went to another house. He asked Erica (Sara Paxton) if she could see the Ring camera footage of her child leaving. Erica told Archer that she didn’t feel comfortable.
That was okay for Archer. He would wait. And wait he did.
Gary (Justin Long), Erica’s husband, comes home. Archer approaches him. Gary agrees to let him see the footage.
Archer was persistent. He wasn’t going to give up at a single no. He would ask again.
We feel that we shouldn’t have to ask multiple times for something to get done. The first time should be the only time we need to ask.
I believe this line of leadership thinking is causing numerous issues.
We’ve overloaded our teams. We don’t communicate clearly. We miss details.
Don’t be afraid to ask again. If you fail to ask, you fail to get the results you need.
7. Bad leaders are unwilling to help:
Justine was at the gas station with Archer. Suddenly, Marcus is running Naruto style toward them. He’s ready to attack.
Justine and Archer do their best to fend off Marcus. But they’re still not able to.
Justine runs into the gas station. She’s looking for a way out. She’s looking for help.
What does the gas station attendant do? He tells her to get out. He’s not helping her.
Oof.
Imagine telling your people that you won’t help them. Can you empathize with how they’d feel?
Your people would feel abandoned. They might feel scared. They might even be angry.
Bad leaders won’t help. Great leaders will. Step up and help when needed.
8. Bad leaders often have to face a negative fate:
Who was the main villain in Weapons? Alex’s aunt: Gladys. She was using magic to control people and sap their energy.
Gladys already did this to Alex’s parents (Whitmer Thomas and Callie Schuttera). That wasn’t enough for her. She needed more life energy to restore her health.
As the movie concludes, Alex is in danger until he finds the tools Gladys had used on his parents and classmates. He caused the missing students to chase after Gladys and kill her.
Gladys had to face a negative fate.
What happens to bad leaders? They often face a negative fate.
What is that fate? It could be:
- Being escorted off an organization’s property
- A civil lawsuit
- A broken family
- Leaving in disgrace
Do your best to lead well. You don’t want the fate of a bad leader.
