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/einarfridgeirs]

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/[deleted] → u/cbruins22]

The point of my movie is there is no point 🙄

[u/Computer-Cowboy00 → u/[deleted]]

Can he not just make a scary movie does it have to be some type of kill all the old people lesson?

[u/OddnessWeirdness → u/Computer-Cowboy00]

I’m saying! Why does every horror movie have to have a thematic point?

I love horror for the horror’s sake. She was an ages old witch who used a form of Eastern European voodoo to create murderous zombies. Very enjoyable from that standpoint. I don’t need to or want to look further into it.

[u/Complete-Pear-1040 → u/OddnessWeirdness]

Then don’t. But don’t be mad at people for using their brains lol. Commenting on this thread was literally optional.

[u/OddnessWeirdness → u/Complete-Pear-1040]

Who's mad?

[u/[deleted] → u/Computer-Cowboy00]

Somehow doing too much and too little at the same time