What began in the shadows of queer underground culture as a subversive celebration of identity has, over the decades, been transfigured into something far more palatable and considerably less dangerous. The evolution of camp in film tells a tale, not merely of aesthetic evolution, but of cultural assimilation, where the radical edge of theatrical transgression has been dulled by gradual mainstream appropriation.
I would suggest that Cregger’s follow-up, Weapons, is him trying to reverse engineer an even more successful movie by having multiple swerves throughout the entire thing. The whole film does follow one story, in which an entire classroom of children save for one shockingly disappear into the night, running out of their homes with seemingly no explanation, and throwing the entire community into turmoil.
Starring Rajit Kapur as Debu, Munisha Koirala as Juhi, and Sanjay Naval as Kaku, Deepti Naval's directorial debut was an attempt at alternate cinema enchanted with unconventional themes and unsettling portrayals of queerness, desire, and family.Â
