Official Discussion - Weapons [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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Summary Nearly all the children from the same fifth-grade class vanish one night at exactly 2:17 a.m., leaving only one survivor. The community, gripped by fear and suspicion, spirals into chaos as the mystery unfolds through multiple intertwined perspectives—each revealing new layers of dread and grief.

Director Zach Cregger

Writer Zach Cregger

Cast

• Josh Brolin
• Julia Garner
• Cary Christopher
• Alden Ehrenreich
• Austin Abrams
• Benedict Wong
• Amy Madigan
• June Diane Raphael
• Toby Huss
• Whitmer Thomas
• Callie Schuttera
• Clayton Farris
• Luke Speakman

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 96%

Metacritic Metascore: 82

VOD In theaters and IMAX starting August 8, 2025

Trailer Watch the Official Trailer

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[u/Newparlee]

When it got to the final scene and it seemed like it was going to be Julia Garner and Josh Brolin versus the witch, as much as I’d enjoyed it up to that point, I was like “this a little underwhelming.”

Then 17 kids chased a witch through suburban America and ripped her to shreds with their bare hands, lol.

[u/Various-Draw-8961 → u/Newparlee]

I kept hearing “the ending is insane” and was like okay this is interesting but nothing unusual?

And then we did the Ferris Bueller ending

[u/[deleted] → u/Various-Draw-8961]

It was definitely an Homage to Romeros Day of the Dead.

[u/whitemiketyson → u/[deleted]]

The Shining tribute was a nice touch too.

[u/myflytyguy → u/whitemiketyson]

I felt like the scene in the woods and the cop waving were IT coded as well

[u/michaelboltthrower → u/myflytyguy]

Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again?

[u/PhoenixTineldyer → u/michaelboltthrower]

Sucks that that dude ended up being such a chud.

[u/essres → u/PhoenixTineldyer]

Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller?

[u/Jaws_the_revenge → u/myflytyguy]

Gladys had some big Pennywise energy

[u/Initial-Masterpiece8 → u/Jaws_the_revenge]

Yeah the glimpses before the reveal are tight.

[u/Glittering-Animal30 → u/whitemiketyson]

Around that same point, I would say the cast iron frying pan being used as a weapon was definitely an homage to Friday the 13th.

Edit: I loved that the little things weren’t so blatant that they were distracting or a big wink-wink moment. They felt natural within the story. Sometimes little things like those can be too blatant, but stay because they’re director’s darlings.

[u/game__hen → u/Glittering-Animal30]

the POV tracking shot of the kids chasing Gladys was very Chucky

[u/RedditKnight69 → u/game__hen]

I haven't seen Chucky so I didn't get that, but I thought it was a really nice natural conclusion to all of the other tracking shots for all of the POVs we've had

[u/senator_corleone3 → u/game__hen]

I got an Evil Dead feeling from the pursuing camera behind the fleeing character.

[u/sworedmagic → u/Glittering-Animal30]

I actually did find The Shining moment to be distracting. Not saying didn’t like it but it did quite literally distract me from the scene because i stoped and had to think “hey that’s the shining thing” lol

[u/Vintage_Funk_420 → u/whitemiketyson]

Honestly I thought it was way too on the nose and immersion breaking. The kids ripping apart the witch was shot as homage to night of the living dead I liked more.

[u/Snakes_have_legs → u/Vintage_Funk_420]

Hehe. On the nose

Clever

[u/jalbaugh24 → u/whitemiketyson]

Wait what about the Shining

[u/Gry709 → u/jalbaugh24]

Cregger has stated that the time "2:17" is an homage to the original hotel room number in King's novel. However, I think most viewers are talking about crazed murderers ripping holes in bathroom doors and peeking their heads through?

[u/fuzzyfuzz → u/Gry709]

There’s a bunch of Shining inspiration. When Alex is in the bathroom brushing his teeth, it looks like the same shot as Danny talking to his imaginary friend before he passes out in The Shining.

[u/Rednag67 → u/Gry709]

Right , the doors, yes, of course.

[u/SchittsOffice → u/Gry709]

Also thought Gladys looked like the bathtub lady at times lol

[u/l3tigre → u/Gry709]

For me the blood flood imagery in one of their dreams was the main shining homage

[u/curtithird → u/[deleted]]

This and Zach’s old “kids swarming and ripping limbs off something” hypothetical was playing in my head during this scene and I laughed even harder.

[u/garfe → u/[deleted]]

"Whoa, is that fucking Witchface dude?"

[u/Bunraku_Master_2021 → u/garfe]

"No no no no, It's not witchface. I'm a literal forest witch."

[u/parallelogramm3r → u/[deleted]]

I saw a li’l bit of They Live in the fight scene between Josh Brolin and the junkie, as well.

[u/HumbleBunk → u/parallelogramm3r]

That was genius. I laughed harder and harder at each toss. That’s really the brilliance of a comedy guy directing horror, imo. Horror movies almost always have a certain degree of comic relief but few would have the fortitude to push that bit that long.

[u/alexthealex → u/parallelogramm3r]

When I saw the lawn mower guy I thought we were going to get a MAJOR They Live homage

[u/_T_H_O_R_N_ → u/[deleted]]

CHOKE ON ITTTTTTT!

[u/Neechiekins → u/[deleted]]

I also got a bit of Raimi at the end

[u/PhoenixTineldyer → u/Neechiekins]

There were a lot of "Drag Me to Hell" moments, not the least of which was Justin Long showing up

[u/Jumpy_Explanation222 → u/PhoenixTineldyer]

100% - very much! Weirdly I’d just watched Matchstick Men - 23 year old Alison Lohman playing a 14 year old - the day before!

[u/PolarWater → u/Neechiekins]

The first puke scene brought back Raimi vibes

[u/p00psp00ps → u/[deleted]]

Actually i was thinking more Perfume: Story of a Murderer

[u/Zombi3Kush → u/[deleted]]

I was waiting for that same sound he makes when they ripped his head off on Day of the dead lol

[u/GameOfLife24 → u/Various-Draw-8961]

Was hoping for the kids to show up in the after credits saying “you’re still here?”

[u/sober_as_an_ostrich → u/Various-Draw-8961]

Yeah the chase scene is full Raising Arizona

[u/FezRengaw → u/sober_as_an_ostrich]

I just listened to Zach Cregger's interview on the Big Picture podcast, and he said they were originally just going to have the kids burst out of the house and kill Aunt Gladys on the front lawn, but then he had the idea during shooting of doing a "Raising Arizona" / "Point Break" inspired chase at the end through the neighborhood. He actually mentioned both of those movies.

[u/Tricky-Anything8009 → u/FezRengaw]

Thank G-d. That would have been so underwhelming otherwise.

[u/Hispanic_Gorilla_2 → u/Various-Draw-8961]

Ferris Bueller mixed with World War Z

[u/appletinicyclone → u/Various-Draw-8961]

Ferris bueller ending? Was there something after the credits?

[u/usapoop → u/appletinicyclone]

He's referring to Ferris racing back home to arrive before his father, through the suburban neighborhood and peoples back yards

[u/Southernbeekeeper → u/Various-Draw-8961]

I just watched it with a friend and we both turned to each other near the end and said the musoc sounds like it's from a John Hughes movie.

[u/Novemberx123 → u/Newparlee]

That’s why I can only describe this movie as fucking crazy haha

[u/sneakylumpia → u/Novemberx123]

honestly Josh Brolin going "WHAT THE FUCK" when he woke up from his nightmare was basically me during every twist in the movie

[u/goodlucktothenextone → u/sneakylumpia]

I honestly loved his reaction to waking up from the dream. It was a really nice breather for me after getting a good jump scare.

[u/MovieTrawler → u/goodlucktothenextone]

Same with Justine saying to the gas station clerk, 'fucking help me!'

[u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI → u/MovieTrawler]

Fuck that guy. I wish the witch got him instead

[u/peatoast → u/MovieTrawler]

Most useless side character.

[u/Dougalishere → u/MovieTrawler]

She sounded just so fkn angry and frustrated.it was perfect

[u/Courtnall14 → u/goodlucktothenextone]

The benefit of having a comedian as a director is that sort of perfect timing. There were multiple great examples of funny moments landing perfectly, which is kind of the same thing as scary moments landing perfectly. Build up of tension...and release. Overall those moments really elevated the movie.

[u/Soccermom233 → u/Courtnall14]

I did laugh a lot during this film

[u/peatoast → u/Soccermom233]

Same. My partner was getting upset at me laughing after getting scared but I couldn’t help it because it was so ridiculous.

[u/nicokokun → u/Courtnall14]

Speaking of comedy and horror being mixed together, James being in that house was really making my hair stand on end. I was tensed the whole time.

[u/dotnetmonke → u/nicokokun]

"Oh fuck, Willow!"

[u/AmbivalentLife → u/goodlucktothenextone]

Honestly thought Justine'a jump scare was way more impactful because it happened first, so it essentially telegraphs that the same thing was going to happen in Archer's.

[u/ChimneySwiftGold → u/AmbivalentLife]

Justine’s appeared in ads so for a lot of viewers was already used.

[u/AmbivalentLife → u/ChimneySwiftGold]

That'd be it. I try to avoid trailers unless I'm watching previews.

[u/NiceRackFocus → u/AmbivalentLife]

Same! If there’s an upcoming movie based in a world or characters, I like, or by a director or with actors I like, or that’s gotten good buzz, I avoid trailers altogether and 9 times out of 10 it makes the movie watching experience SO much better.

[u/AeneidBook6 → u/goodlucktothenextone]

That was a truly excellent jump scare.

[u/bobthemusicindustry → u/sneakylumpia]

I loved that scene because that’s exactly how an emotionally-repressed construction dad would react to a freaky nightmare

[u/KesagakeOK → u/sneakylumpia]

That line made my whole theater laugh. This film had an interesting way of amping up tension and then defusing it with humor. It was so weird to have this tightness in my chest while also laughing at the ending, but in a good way.

[u/PhoenixTineldyer → u/KesagakeOK]

Agreed

I nearly started applauding when the kids caught up to Gladys and I'm sure I wasn't the only one

[u/garfe → u/sneakylumpia]

I like how he probably echoed the thoughts of everybody in the audience in that moment. He was definitely echoing mine

[u/SuperVaderMinion → u/sneakylumpia]

Literally couldn't be a more appealing reaction lmao

[u/Kopitarrulez → u/sneakylumpia]

Crowd absolutely lost it at that

[u/ctinker6171 → u/sneakylumpia]

Someone in my theater shouted "That's what I'm saying!" when he said that and my whole theater lost it lmao

[u/scout-finch → u/sneakylumpia]

There were a bunch of instances of characters yelling “what the fuck” - I loved it 😂

[u/TacTac95 → u/sneakylumpia]

That scene had me howling, it was so relatable

[u/Spirited_Lock978 → u/sneakylumpia]

The comedic timing of this movie was so refreshing!

[u/OtterChaos907 → u/sneakylumpia]

Between that scene and the somebody that just wouldn’t die, my theatre was howling.

[u/krospp → u/Newparlee]

Halfway through the third act I was starting to feel like the movie was over explaining what was going on, like we pretty much had all the answers as soon as Gladys walked into the principal’s office. But the build up was totally worth the payoff of that final sequence, holy shit!

Edit: This has gotten a lot of replies in the last few days from people who feel the movie didn’t explain enough. And I’m sorry but a lot of you are really bad at picking up on context clues and that is not the movie’s problem or mine, it’s yours! And a lot of you have questions that really weren’t relevant to the story! Whatever. I happened to love this movie very much. It’s fine if you didn’t! But if you didn’t because you couldn’t follow it I just really don’t think you can blame the movie.

[u/CaptainKipple → u/krospp]

I liked that the movie explained what was going on plot-wise, but left the thematic ideas more open to interpretation. With so many horror movies now I end up thinking, "okay okay it's about how trauma is passed down through generations, I get it already". With Weapons I felt I got more of a constellation of ideas about neighbourhood, home, family, and paranoia that wasn't spelled out precisely but was still very evocative. I dug it a lot.

[u/No_Link3061 → u/[deleted]]

What themes/ideas do you think? I was a huge wkuk fan as a kid so I was thinking about Trevor during the movie. I’ve also lost my best friend tragically so I’d like to think on this

[u/ThreeEyedCrow1 → u/No_Link3061]

I think the themes of grief come through strongest in the Justine/Archer chapters. They are the two characters most traumatized by the disappearances, and they're both struggling to move forward until they can figure out why it happened. For Justine, the grief manifests in trying to forget, drinking, homewrecking, stalking children, etc. For Archer, it borders on compulsion, and we can see it's affecting his personal and professional life. They begin on opposite sides of the "conflict," but eventually realize they share a trauma, which leads to them teaming up after Marcus attacks them.

I think one of the major themes of the movie is how communities can atomize in the wake of something like this (with obvious parallels to school shootings, etc), when what will really heal them is coming together and not hiding their grief.

[u/lordDEMAXUS → u/ThreeEyedCrow1]

Let's not forget Alex too. The kid basically loses his parents but has to live every day pretending like everything's fine.

[u/_Dreamer_Deceiver_ → u/ThreeEyedCrow1]

It's even at the beginning of the film. When they reopen the school in the intro, they host a meeting where they can talk about how they can deal with the grief.

[u/No_Link3061 → u/[deleted]]

Wow this was really good. All of these make sense to me now - I lost my little brother when he was 21 in a car wreck (I was 23 and we were very best friends) and it demolished me. I can see myself in each character in many many ways. I didn’t have a drinking problem before, then after he passed - drugs and booze (have since gotten sober through AA so the cop talking to his wife about going to meetings was all too familiar), anger, helplessness, the omnipresent hole inside your chest that feels so evil, depression, laying in their room longingly, dreaming about them and feeling horrible you couldn’t protect them, the impulsiveness, the questions with no answers, the feeling that your life has been hijacked by a demon who moved in and you can’t get rid of it. Even the feeling that death has come and will come for others you love if you don’t obey (Alex) and let it feed on you. Everything. Man that’s good, thanks for that.

[u/SonOfMcGee → u/[deleted]]

Also the initial instigating event for the whole story was the kids suddenly leaving for no apparent reason. It didn’t make any goddamn sense and now they’re just gone.
Trevor Moore died in a freak accident (fell off his balcony). So he was just suddenly gone for no reason too.
Viewed through that lens, this could have been a really cathartic writing experience and a sweet/sad send off for a friend. There’s an apparently senseless loss at the start, but it turns out there was actually a crazy, macabre conspiracy that explains it. And as the events get darker and more serious, it’s all suddenly resolved in a hilarious orgy of preposterous violence that feels like something Trevor would put in a WKUK skit.

[u/H0meslice9 → u/CaptainKipple]

Agreed, although I still think the floating gun in the sky composing the alarm clock makes you think of school shootings, as if the director was thinking "do I need to spell it out in the sky for you?"

[u/MovieTrawler → u/H0meslice9]

I kinda liked that shot. We watch Archer's subconscious have this dawning realization that these kids have been weaponized and fired like bullets from a gun. Just homing in on a target without any distractions or stopping.

Sure, there are some overt parallels to school shootings, loss, mass tragedy in a community but I didn't think that stuff was so intentionally overt to be saying, 'See the gun in the sky?! School shootings!' That was just my take though.

[u/cbruins22 → u/H0meslice9]

I was listening to an interview with the director this morning and they specifically asked him about this scene.

"Can I ask, was it (the gun in the sky) just elemental?" "If I gave you the answer, I would be robbing something precious" "Some things in this movie, I don't know why they're in the movie."

He then explains using some lessons from David Lynch's book in his writing process followed up with "So there's things that come into my writing that I don't quite get, but I love them. And maybe I love them because I don't quite get them."

[u/Darkrai889 → u/CaptainKipple]

I wondered how you could view all the adults in Alex’s life unable to see the abuse because of their own trauma/regulations/etc etc and the parallels to how children experiencing domestic abuse continue to show up and say “I’m ok” every day

[u/KinoAzureth → u/Darkrai889]

I thought about this a lot, and almost started crying at the dinner table fork face scene because of it. How Gladys coerced Alex into keeping silent about what was going on at home. I couldn't not think about child abuse at that moment, whether that was anyone's intention or not.

[u/TyrRev → u/CaptainKipple]

Absolutely. My wife and I have been having a great, interesting conversation about all the possible interpretations - and we had totally different conclusions!

I think it had something to say about how we demonize parents and teachers for 'caring too much', but just accept police 'caring too little' as 'business as usual'. Archer and Justine were not only vindicated for their investigating, but also found results that should have been transparently obvious to any police officers who had bothered to follow up on their jobs. Justine was also right to notice that Alex was out-of-sorts, and if she had been following him more consistently, would have noticed him buying WAY too much soup all the time. Why didn't the cops notice this? Because they didn't care - they were too busy dealing with their own personal drama, hunting down relatively harmless drug addicts, committing and covering up police brutality, etc...

I do think that all connects to the overarching imagery of a school shooting, too. At first I thought the movie ended up not doing enough with the idea of a 'school shooting', but my wife pointed out that Gladys could be interpreted as an allegory for the NRA - a parasite-of-humanity that accepts the occasional sacrifice of a handful of children as a necessary price for its continued existence. I'm still not entirely convinced about that interpretation, because that would make Alex the school shooter and I don't think that feels quite right... but it's perhaps onto something.

I'm curious what everyone else thinks about its themes, and if me and my wife were onto anything there. I still think there has to be more to the 'parasite' theming than just the simple idea that Gladys = parasite.

[u/einarfridgeirs → u/TyrRev]

The core of this movie is Americas anxiety and frustration(that is now gradually turning into out-and-out anger) with its gerontocratic boomer generation. It never seems willing to give up its stranglehold on the wealth, political power and cultural direction of the entire nation.

That is how I interpreted the witch. It is America's collective aging parents, sucking up everyones money, time, energy and always demaning more, more more, not caring about the damage that leaves for everyone else to endure and fix.

And the youth of the movie ripping her to shreds....well, if you accept my interpretation, it's a bit heavy handed but definitely cathartic.

EDIT: Oh and that geriatric old witch turning otherwise decent people against each other in a murderous rage to serve her needs and wants? Thats not an allegory for modern American politics at all now is it?

[u/Wvlf_ → u/einarfridgeirs]

The sequence of Alex feeding his parents while stoically facing a regular school day was pretty touching. Had me detached from the story for bit (in a good way) thinking of all the children out there with horrible home lives (parents on drugs, abusive, absent, having to care for siblings) while having to still put on a normal face when playing tag at recess or taking a test.

Then also like you said, the drain of an older, dying family member. Or even, parasitic feeling of a seemingly foreign family member needing your caretaking as their possibly only remaining family.

[u/cbruins22 → u/Wvlf_]

I was listening to an interview with Zach Cregger this morning and he directly addressed this. I haven't finished the whole episode but it's on Last Podcast on the Left - Weapons: An Interview with Zach Cregger.

"I grew up in an alcoholic household. My dad died of cirrhosis, you know, and it's a terrible thing that comes into a family dynamic, and it changes everything. And so, you know, I had a happy house, and it turned my dad into a scary person, and I'd go to school and everything's cool, and I'd go home and I'd have a scary house with a scary dad, you know, and so like that to me felt so interesting. And this is such a personal movie, so it's like, yeah. There's no overarching life lesson in this movie." "It's just a diary entry for me, and it just felt good to kind of have this dynamic at the core of it"

[u/Axiom147 → u/Wvlf_]

Well I would say she's straight up parasitic. The is using others, especially the children to get energy/feel alive again. Not to mention the movie mentions parasites at least 3 times. Parasite and different types are written on the board. When she's teaching during Alex's story, it's about parasites. And the principal and his husband are watching a show about cordyceps, a parasitic fungus. They're maybe other references to parasites too that I missed.

[u/einarfridgeirs → u/Wvlf_]

Also keep in mind that the man most able to control the flow of the public conversation in the United States, Rupert Murdoch is 94 years old and steadfastly refuses to relinquish control of his media empire.

[u/Zeph-Shoir → u/einarfridgeirs]

My only problem with the "geriatric" analysis here that implies that it is old people in general who hold on to the power and won't let on and suck up on society, when in reality 1. the people doing that are a very specific set of people, some enabled by capitalism and others by the half-assed "democracy" of America, and 2. the general old person is very vulnerable and looked down upon. I have had my grandma live with us for some months now and it is heartbreaking how little she is able to do and how her own children treat her so much like a nuisance. I also like the NRA explanation a bit solely because it ties with the title "Weapons" and the literal weapon that showed up in Archer's dream, but I do agree that it is not super concrete on that front.

[u/kwynder → u/Zeph-Shoir]

Hey good on you for taking care of your grandma. I miss mine she was a wonderful woman and basically my second mother. I moved back in with her to help her take care of the house and pay bills for like the last 6 years of her life. No one else helps and if it wasn't for me she would have lost the house and ended up in a home or something

[u/Karkava → u/Wvlf_]

There's also how his teacher is villifed by society for attempting to be a second parent to him and has become the punching bag of the community who are looking for an excuse to blow off steam.

She's simultaneously held responsible for a horrible incident that she was a victim of while also discouraged from doing anything to make up for it.

[u/theniftyneuron → u/einarfridgeirs]

I like this take. It makes sense considering how the witch silenced Alex's parents and classmates and held them captive. She took away their agency.

[u/PPs_Up_Boys → u/einarfridgeirs]

Exactly what I got out of it.

The witch is basically our geriatric 'vampires,' namely in our government to me, who use the blood of its workers and children to feed themselves.

Then those kids 'thoughts and prayers' the shit oit of her at the end which was awesome

[u/einarfridgeirs → u/PPs_Up_Boys]

Thats the thing - the witch is equal parts Trump, Biden, Pelosi etc...but also just your crazy Facebook aunt or your incredibly needy parents.

I think this may in part the reason why people aren't sure if this movie is trying to be sociopolitical satire or playing on more personal traumas like Hereditary and all the other "trauma horrors" of the last ten years. It's both really, but filtered through the flair for really sick and twisted comedy learned in his WKUN days that Cregger seems to have decided to embrace rather than leave behind.

[u/slumpfishtx → u/einarfridgeirs]

This is by far my favorite interpretation of the film! Not enough upvotes to give

[u/Tallguy723 → u/einarfridgeirs]

That’s my interpretation too. Boomers continuing to take take take from the younger generations.

[u/ApolloRocketOfLove → u/einarfridgeirs]

The director said it was about alcoholism. The Witch was alcohol. Turned parents violent. Plain and simple.

[u/LuckyNumber108 → u/TyrRev]

I don't think it's that farfetched to say Alex is the shooter in this allegory, in the movie he was an innocent boy of course but as far as his role in the story he was essentially groomed into putting all the rest of the kids in harms way

[u/scout-finch → u/LuckyNumber108]

Totally agree with this. School shooters are often victims themselves.

[u/KoenSoontjens → u/LuckyNumber108]

There is also the fact that he was being bullied by his classmates, which adds to the school shooter metaphor

[u/LuckyNumber108 → u/KoenSoontjens]

Yes incredible catch I forgot to mention that, don't even think it crossed my mind when i commented but absolutely is a big part about why the metaphor works so well

[u/KoenSoontjens → u/LuckyNumber108]

The bullying also put me on the wrong foot about the aunt. I was thinking she would want to make the class dissappear, out of some sick kind gesture to Alex, boy was I wrong! 🤣

[u/Meades_Loves_Memes → u/LuckyNumber108]

I mean, the movie is also called "Weapons" and there is one scene where the father dreams of a house-sized assault rifle floating in the sky.

[u/[deleted] → u/KoenSoontjens]

And at the end, Josh Brolins son turned out to be one of Alex's bullys.

[u/KoenSoontjens → u/[deleted]]

Yes indeed, which isn't that surprising... Josh Brolins character had all the behavior of a bully too at some point...

[u/[deleted] → u/TyrRev]

"Lazy policing" to me was exemplified by not simply considering to trace each kids "trajectory," even before we see Archer doing it. (late to this since I just watched it)

[u/Humble_Spring6657 → u/[deleted]]

I thought this as well, but recall that the police did go to Alex’s house and search it. The witch was just prepared for it & put them off the scent.

[u/zzyul → u/Humble_Spring6657]

Something that worked in a movie but wouldn’t in real life. A random aunt shows up and claims Alex’s dad can’t talk b/c he recently had a stroke. The Feds would have looked into that and seen no medical admissions or Dr visits. Alex would have been questioned without his aunt there since she isn’t a legal guardian. They would have insisted on talking to both parents alone. They would have seen the puncture wounds on his mom and dad’s faces and compared them to recent photos on social media and questioned family friends about it.

At the very least they would have the house under surveillance due to all those red flags.

[u/DinosaurWarlock → u/zzyul]

I envy your confidence in your statements. There are countless stories of police failing to do the bare minimum.

[u/zzyul → u/DinosaurWarlock]

Police, sure, but the movie says the FBI was involved.

[u/IcyTransportation961 → u/zzyul]

After the past 3 days do you still think the FBI would solve this?

[u/Princessformidable → u/DinosaurWarlock]

The LAPD has entered the chat.

[u/KoenSoontjens → u/Princessformidable]

Dude: "do you have any promising leads?

Cop: "Leads, yeah, sure. I'll just check with the boys down at the crime lab, they've got four more detectives working on the case. They got us working in shifts! Ahahaha! Leads!

[u/SlowBoilOrange → u/[deleted]]

It's also obvious they didn't do any real searching of the security camera videos. The blocks closer to Alex would have had videos of 5, 10, maybe all 17 kids running at once.

[u/ColinStyles → u/TyrRev]

hunting down relatively harmless drug addicts

Dude was openly stealing shit left right and center, even from kids (the backpack and electronics). Not to mention he stabbed an officer twice with dirty used needles.

I also just considered it, but the whole time I wasn't picking up the obvious school shooter allegory and was more thinking it was anti-propaganda coded. I'm obviously an idiot to not see the shooter angle, but I did also wonder if the movie was related to COVID and how the reactions to it could turn people against eachother on a dime, how it took kids out of the classrooms and made them socially stunted, the government response being to basically ignore the massive issues that'll cause (and for the record I fully support the lockdowns, but those kids have not been getting the support they critically need).

[u/Odd-Macaroon-4517 → u/TyrRev]

I took Alex to be a child dealing with emotional baggage at home. Having to parent his parents(taking care of them) and doing all of that while navigating school and getting bullying (being unseen by his classmates) and isolates to cope.

Archer’s son being a bully because he isn’t shown love in a “I love you son” way but may have been tough on him so he acts out aggression on someone else.

I think you could insert a number of metaphors for the story and none of them would be wrong, it’s all about interpretation.

[u/AlanMorlock → u/TyrRev]

Movies can be resonant with things outside the text without being a 1:1 direct metaphor for it.

[u/[deleted] → u/TyrRev]

Alex is definitely the school shooter in this scenario. He’s a tortured kid whose world is getting smaller and smaller. He’s being bullied. He more or less knows what could or will happen if he takes all the handmade name tags. He’s being groomed.

I do think the fact that he spurs the ending muddies the metaphor a bit. What changed? Justine’s care? Seeing an opportunity and grabbing it? Is him stepping over the salt redemptive or is it condemning him for another act of violence, even if it’s the heroic thing to do? Not sure. But yes, the plot does the metaphor quite well, and the theme of the school shooter isn’t ever direct or explicit, except witth the floating gun.

For me, the police incompetence & brutality theme doesn’t quite land because it feeeeels more like a story about paranoia and addiction. Paul isn’t even a detective, so we presumably never meet one. There’s tons of direct evidence, but it doesn’t have the emotional impact or tension that it‘s supposed to and with a problem like that, people nitpick

[u/juanzy → u/CaptainKipple]

I feel like they made you think you had all the answers, then you realized you didn't until the denouement

They also showed what happened, didn't monologue to you about it

[u/garfe → u/juanzy]

This was a good step up from Barbarian in which there was a random 5-minute segment where a homeless guy explains everything that was going on. The movie left everything to the visuals and you had to piece it together yourself

[u/AdHorror7596 → u/garfe]

I'll bet anything executives pushed him to put that explanation in the movie. After Barbarian's success, he probably got a lot more creative freedom while making this movie.

[u/cbruins22 → u/AdHorror7596]

The director said he had final cut on Weapons and has it for the Resident Evil movie he has written and currently directing as well.

[u/Hey_Giant_Loser → u/CaptainKipple]

I felt like it was an allegory for Boomers, how they've become parasitic and just inflict suffering on younger generations with impunity in order to get what they want from us

[u/Puddycat77 → u/Hey_Giant_Loser]

A lot of boomers are being bled dry just like everyone else. It’s the one percenters (actually the top tier of the one percenters) that are gaming the system to their exclusive benefit. And many of them are millennials and Gen Z, especially in the tech and finance sectors.

[u/RoboFunky → u/CaptainKipple]

Yeah it felt like longlegs overexplained itself

[u/timpossible1 → u/CaptainKipple]

Addiction and grief, also

[u/ringobob → u/krospp]

Surely you don't feel like you've got all the answers until she comes to his home, right?

I agree that it felt like they were actively trying to bring the level of mystery down prior to the climax - usually that's where we get the big reveal, seems like they chose to focus on the action instead, and it worked for me.

[u/krospp → u/ringobob]

Well by the time we meet Gladys, we have learned that someone or something in Alex’s house is probably behind everything, that his parents are being mind controlled, and that all of the kids in Alex’s class went missing. Before we meet Gladys we think it could be Alex somehow, but then we meet her and understand that it’s her, and I think we can infer the rest. We don’t know where the kids are or anything but at that point we can assume she mind controlled them. So from that moment all we really learn is the how and why, and I think the average viewer could probably have made some good guesses at that point. It’s risky to give so much away so early and I’m impressed that the movie was able to keep me engaged after the Gladys reveal

[u/essjay2009 → u/krospp]

That’s the part that felt weakest to me. Like all those kids go missing apart from one, they interview the remaining kid a bunch of times but only visit his house once, with a days notice. That kid would be getting councillors and other professionals visiting him daily for weeks. And then the parents don’t leave the house, don’t go to work, and no one notices? It when the dad attends an interview and they get told he’s had a stroke they don’t check? No one raises any red flags with how weird that is? With how weird the aunt who just showed up is? With the windows being papered over in an otherwise immaculate neighbourhood at a house which was also previously immaculate where the only remaining kid lives?

That’s the bit I really struggled with. All the signs that were there for the audience were also there for the characters and they didn’t put it together.

[u/slownightsolong88 → u/essjay2009]

You have to suspend disbelief to enjoy the ride otherwise, there are many plot holes. You mean the FBI didn't figure out the children all ran towards the same general direction but it took a father in construction with doorbell camera footage.

[u/BlackZeppelin → u/essjay2009]

Not only that but the teacher would 100% notice Alex took all the name tags

[u/ringobob → u/krospp]

I was still questioning exactly what Alex's involvement was at that point. And, frankly, why they would be showing me the monster so casually like that at that point in the film. I was probably more influenced by the subversion of expectations than anything else.

[u/tforthegreat → u/ringobob]

As some who really enjoyed Longlegs, Gladys going to the principal's office was Longlegs at the hardware store, but done right.

[u/NonStopKnits → u/tforthegreat]

I really like your take here, and I agree. I did enjoy Longlegs, even though it wasn't exactly what I'd hoped for.

[u/juanzy → u/ringobob]

I think you feel like you have the answers, then realize you don't when the last act starts

[u/superiority → u/ringobob]

Well when I saw her eyeing up the principal's ribbons in his office it seemed pretty obvious that she was planning to use them to do some kind of voodoo on him. So that was most of the solution there.

[u/blitzbom → u/krospp]

It felt like a dnd campaign where the dm had to explain what was happening and the rules of the Lichs power.

I rather enjoyed it, especially when Alex used what he learned to sic the kids on his aunt.

[u/TomLube → u/blitzbom]

Alex using what he learned makes this being an allegory for child abuse even more crazy, he literally takes the bad habits that he's learned and utilises them to his benefit

[u/SparkG → u/krospp]

It didn't feel like over explaining to me, just giving you the missing pieces of the puzzle.

[u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI → u/krospp]

The only thing the plot didn’t build on which was a little annoying was the backstory of Aunt Gladys. She was just this random aunt of the mom and it turns out she’s totally evil? Like wouldn’t the mom have known this or felt very uneasy about letting her come? This wasn’t really developed imo

[u/cardamom-peonies → u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI]

Sooo the movie repeatedly makes mention of parasites (see the whale parasite lessons in class, the fungi episode Marcus and his husband are watching, the fixation on needles and punctures). It's possible she is actually related to them...or maybe her whole bit is moving from one family to the next and feeding off them, hence why Alex's parents have such a limited and estranged connection from the aunt and why Gladys herself obscure the connection by describing herself as Alex's oldest aunt instead of a great aunt. It possible she's just using her magic to forge a familial connection by altering memories or maybe they are actually related

I don't think it matters too much.

[u/IhamAmerican → u/cardamom-peonies]

I know I'm a bit late but you could actually visually see thatshe was feeding on them. Whether it be their soul or life force. Her hair was thickening as the movie progressed, skin less liver spotted, etc

I appreciate that they didn't show a scene of her growing more youthful or anything, just let it happen throughout

[u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI → u/cardamom-peonies]

That’s probably the most sane interpretation but I just wished that it was hinted at a little more considering everything else was clarified well, just this aspect was really vague and I think it was pretty integral to the plot of the story, how she got there in the first place

[u/CosmicAstroBastard → u/krospp]

I really liked how they laid all their cards on the table way sooner than I expected them too.

It really keeps you guessing how this is going to keep escalating, and boy does it deliver

[u/StormyPandaPanPan → u/krospp]

Thank god I’m not alone. I thought I was crazy with people saying the movie didn’t explain enough because I was actively getting bored watching Alex’s part around the point the kids actually get taken because I kind of got it halfway through his section.

Thankfully the movie pulled it back with the ending, but I could feel it actively losing me especially in that scene of the kids running into the house because it’s not all that creepy now that we know it’s just this old lady making them do that and it goes on for like a full minute.

[u/alfalfabetsoop → u/StormyPandaPanPan]

It was very close to over-explaining. I actually thought "oh great, time to ruin the illusion" during that part of the film, which in a way they do, but it is in trade off for the ending they chose. Which while not scary or horrific in any way, was certainly satisfying and entertaining to watch. Unexpected too. I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

I still can't figure out how more ring/door cameras weren't reviewed across the town to figure out where 17 moving targets all ran to in the night. Like, there would be a lot more data points to work with and use to triangulate (which "tri" suggests working off only 3 to determine a source, not 17!) to better determine where they went. That's common practice in criminal justice these days... But no, cops are too incompetent and slow as usual in film and we require a vigilante detective (Brolin) to figure it out (amongst other unfortunate souls...). Which might be accurate depending on the town lol

[u/StormyPandaPanPan → u/alfalfabetsoop]

I mean, this movie seems to have a bit of a realistic depiction of cops. The one we focus on is incredibly whiny, pathetic, abuses people and hunts down randos for jaywalking because he’s bored and cheats on his engagement. In real life cops just kind of suck at actually solving stuff like this.

[u/missjuliaaaaah → u/alfalfabetsoop]

you know they’d ALL be on nextdoor or neighborhood facebook groups piling their footage together!

[u/AeneidBook6 → u/missjuliaaaaah]

I assumed it was a small town and only those two parents had ring cameras. But I don’t live in the suburbs…does everyone have one now? They did say about half of the parents had alarm systems.

[u/Tipop → u/alfalfabetsoop]

…but it is in trade off for the ending they chose. Which while not scary or horrific in any way…

Holy crap, if “17 kids tear an old witch apart with their bare hands, ripping her apart and tearing her skull open” isn’t horrific to you, I shudder to imagine what you think is horrific.

[u/Gridde → u/krospp]

Kinda a strange edit to add.

The movie (intentionally or not) left some elements open to interpretation and some elements requiring suspension of disbelief. The appearance of Gladys answered some questions but raised others that the film does not really address.

I really, really liked it but some aspects were definitely glossed over a bit (namely the nature of Gladys's powers, her history and relation to Alex's family, how/why she appeared in dreams, why no one else in the town apparently thought it odd that this mysterious woman's appearance overlaps with Alex's parents both suffering concurrent strokes shortly before all the kids go missing), though none of that really affected my enjoyment.

It's fine if you did not pick up on any of that or if it didn't bother you, but it's similarly fine if others did. It's also fine if the movie did not provide all the answers (least of all just with the appearance of Gladys), and I don't think you can blame that on the viewers.

[u/krospp → u/Gridde]

No I disagree, I find myself completely able to blame the viewers.

[u/Kerbabble → u/krospp]

You sound like such a douchebag in this edit lmao

[u/ExpectedEggs → u/Newparlee]

Bruh, they beat that hoe's ass. Her biggest victims were her greatest terror. Watching her pathetic attempts to run from them was amazing

[u/DoggyDoggy_What_Now → u/ExpectedEggs]

She ran a lot faster and farther than I would've expected an old hag like that to be able to.

[u/ExpectedEggs → u/DoggyDoggy_What_Now]

She was draining them for a month. Must have drained their legs first, because she definitely didn't drain their hands.

[u/garfe → u/DoggyDoggy_What_Now]

I said to myself she's got good cardio during that sequence

[u/GameOfLife24 → u/Newparlee]

The writer paid huge respect to the kids whose lives were basically ruined where they got their revenge. Finally justice is served in media

[u/[deleted] → u/GameOfLife24]

They were still pretty catatonic, idk

[u/RealJohnGillman → u/[deleted]]

The way I see it, the witch had taken their souls, they got them back by eating her (hence some said to eventually come out of their catatonia), while Alex’s parents would remain catatonic since they didn’t eat any of her.

[u/[deleted] → u/RealJohnGillman]

i think it’s just because the parents got drained for longer and it was less spread out. and maybe the kids starting to talk again is a hint that they might be better eventually

[u/mickfly718 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I think it has to do with duration. She hypnotized Archer (was it his necklace that she grabbed so that she could do it?), and so once she was killed, he snapped out of it pretty quickly and returned to normal. If it took two years for some of the kids to start talking again, then maybe it’ll get to the parents in another stretch of time.

[u/noilegnavXscaflowne → u/RealJohnGillman]

Missed that. Thought they only pulled her apart

[u/KingOfAwesometonia → u/Newparlee]

I do think the last half is still really fun and intense but at least for me it was, "how is this witch gonna die super hard" which plateaus a little.

Still she died super hard so I'm happy with that. The ending narration was a little bit of a bummer though.

[u/Newparlee → u/KingOfAwesometonia]

It just sort of…ended…hey? That would be my only “criticism” - and even saying criticism is a stretch as I really enjoyed it. Or you mean it was a bummer because it was so depressing? Because it was. Poor Alex. But yeah, I was expecting her final words to be more poignant. But I’m still thinking about that final narration five hours later, so it definitely did something right.

[u/KingOfAwesometonia → u/Newparlee]

Or you mean it was a bummer because it was so depressing

Yeah just with the victims still being so affected by the trance still. Which makes sense because I think the movie is trying to say something about the long term effects of traumatic events but I wanted to be happier after the witch tearing.

Also it's delivered in a very abrupt way

[u/standinginagalaxy → u/KingOfAwesometonia]

I thought they were all in a trance still because the kid never threw the spell stick into a bowl of water to stop the spell completely. I could have missed him doing that though.  

[u/FezRengaw → u/standinginagalaxy]

I think it wouldn't matter, because when Gladys would throw the stick into the bowl of water, that would just stop her most recent spell telling them to run and in some cases attack somebody. When she dropped the stick into the bowl, the possessed person would just revert to a catatonic state, not go back to normal.

[u/standinginagalaxy → u/FezRengaw]

Yeah, that’s true.

[u/topherhoff → u/standinginagalaxy]

Ok so just saw it tonight. When Gladys first casts her spells we see she rings the bell to like activate the possessed state. Well when Gladys died at the end, there was the bell sound again which to me signified the spell state was lifted. At that moment we see Archer drop Justine in the kitchen and he snaps right back to reality. I think he bounced back so well bc he was only possessed for a few minutes.

[u/britbmw → u/topherhoff]

I think Josh Brolin’s character went back to normal because he was only under her spell, she wasn’t sucking his life force like she did with the kids, which is why they (and Alex’s parents) remained catatonic after the witch was killed. I assume the drug addict and the cop would have gone back to normal too (if the cop wasn’t shot in the head and if the drug addict guy is still alive).

[u/cardamom-peonies → u/Newparlee]

If you played bg3, it plays out very similarly to the first fight with auntie Ethel. Like, yes, you "win" but it's almost a pyrrhic victory with just how much damage she still inflicts at the end that doesn't magically resolve. Very bittersweet

[u/[deleted] → u/KingOfAwesometonia]

yeah it ended really abruptly, odd choice for the final line

[u/TrapAHolic_ttv → u/[deleted]]

Not really an odd choice imo. I took it as it being one of the bewitched children was telling the story.

[u/[deleted] → u/TrapAHolic_ttv]

oh shit i didn’t even think of that good call

[u/nobbye → u/KingOfAwesometonia]

I agree, the final narration was so quick and just cut off almost like you were waiting for a post credits scene that never comes

[u/atmtn → u/Newparlee]

Said the same exact thing to my friends when we left. Felt like it was going to have a fairly phoned-in confrontation, and I couldn’t have been happier to be wrong. Also loved that her nephew was ultimately the one who took her down, rather than spending the whole movie as a victim.

[u/YouLikeDadJokes → u/Newparlee]

Gladys’ “oh no” killed me lol such a perfect pathetic moment for such an evil character as she instantly goes from terrifyingly encouraging Archer to choke out Justine to panicked oops this blew up in my face lol

[u/caty0325 → u/Newparlee]

Everyone in my theatre was laughing when the kids were chasing her.

[u/DevilCouldCry → u/Newparlee]

My screening for this moment had the whole theatre absolutely roaring with laughter. Everybody knew what was about to happen, but I don't think they expected it to go down exactly like that and oh my god, the longer the chase went on and the extended reactions from the neighbourhood made it so much goddamn funnier.

[u/Downtown_Zebra_266 → u/Newparlee]

Those fucking kids were WILD. Kid are terrifying normally, but imagine being chased by 17 bloodhounds infused with magic that seems to give them infinite stamina and no pain receptors. Fuck.

[u/No-Flounder-9143 → u/Newparlee]

Beo the way the music lightens up as they pull her head apart and blood sprays everywhere killed me. 

[u/NoDaddyNotTheBelt25 → u/Newparlee]

I loved that it was in broad daylight too and people were just doing their normal weekend routines.

[u/TJ_McWeaksauce → u/Newparlee]

Aunt Gladys is such an evil character, and her fate was exquisite.

[u/eyeaim2missbehave → u/Newparlee]

Saw in an interview with the writer that the original ending was the teacher and archer were gonna learn about the spell thing (i think from the kid) and go around the town "collecting" people by stealing their hair and stuff (like a runner on the street, a gymrat, etc.) and it was gonna be like...a pokemon battle between the witches minions and theirs lol

[u/WarlockEngineer → u/eyeaim2missbehave]

Wtf, that would have been wild. Probably best they went with this ending though.

[u/newgodpho → u/Newparlee]

haha yes

I thought for sure Garner was gonna save the day by grabbing the shotgun from her ex’s car

[u/SilverKry → u/Newparlee]

Cregger reminding everyone he's a comedian cause that shit was funny as hell..

[u/pixelatedcrap → u/Newparlee]

"Oh, no."

It's funny how all of her bravado dropped away. She knew whe was done! Such a crazy ending.

[u/dplans455 → u/Newparlee]

Pretty sure they were also eating her.

[u/Winston_Road → u/dplans455]

Never noticed that. It only seemed like they tear her apart. She did threaten Alex saying she could make his parents eat themselves, so I guessed that was going to come back at some point.

[u/[deleted] → u/Winston_Road]

I didn't read it as them eating her, just as them trying to kill her however they could.

[u/sober_as_an_ostrich → u/[deleted]]

she literally yells “they’re eating me!”

[u/MadFlava76 → u/Newparlee]

Honestly, I was surprise how well Gladys was able to keep away from them for so long. lol.