Weapons opens with the question of why 17 school children from the same class disappeared one night at 2:17 a.m., and the finale of the film leaves the audience with a chilling answer. Zach Cregger's newest horror film is even more ambitious than his 2022 feature Barbarian. Ahead of its official release on August 8, Weapons has earned 95% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Direct naming it "one of this year's most haunting" movies.
Weapons is loosely inspired by true events and connects the stories of several townspeople impacted by the children's disappearance. This includes the class teacher, Justine (Julia Garner), one of the parents, Archer (Josh Brolin), a local police officer, Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), the school principal, Andrew (Benedict Wong), and the only child from the class who wasn't abducted, Alex (Cary Christopher). The truth behind the children's disappearance is steadily revealed throughout these interweaving narratives.
Why Did the Children Disappear in 'Weapons'?
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for the plot and ending of Weapons.
As Weapons' different character stories interweave, the perpetrator behind the children's mysterious disappearance is revealed. Towards the end of the film, audiences are introduced to Gladys Lilly (Amy Madigan), Alex's strange and enigmatic aunt, who has arrived in town to take care of her nephew while his parents are ill. However, this is all a ruse for Gladys' true intentions.
In Alex's storyline, it's revealed that Gladys is a witch who uses sorcery to bend others to her will. She does this by conducting a strange voodoo-like ritual (hinted at in Weapons' trailers) that involves gaining an object of the person she wishes to possess, like a strand of hair, and tying it to a stick, before activating the spell with a drop of her blood. Snapping the stick triggers the spell, while dropping it in water ends it.
Gladys arrives one night to stay at Alex's house, which his parents explain is because she is very ill and will likely not live much longer. Shortly after arriving, Gladys uses her sorcery to control Alex's parents, leaving them lifeless husks that Alex must feed. Gladys warns Alex that he must continue to go to school as normal and not breathe a word of her arrival or his parents' condition; otherwise, she threatens to make them kill each other.
Later, Gladys reveals to Alex that her health is declining, but he can fix it by bringing her an object from each of his classmates. That day, Alex steals the name plates from his classmates' cubbies and returns them to Gladys, who uses them to conduct a spell that causes all the children to simultaneously run spread-armed to their house at 2:17 a.m. The children remain trapped by her spell in the basement of Alex's house.
Do the Children Escape?
Weeks after the children's disappearance, during which time Alex has been forced to lie about his home situation, he arrives home to find Gladys has possessed Paul and James (Austin Abrams). She tells him to pack his bags as they'll be leaving the next day and not to cross the salt lines in the house, which contain the spirits of his parents, Paul, and James.
It's around this time that Justine and Archer's investigation leads them to Alex's house. When they enter, they are attacked by Paul and James, who are incapable of being stopped unless they are killed.
During this commotion, Alex crosses the salt line, which sets his parents upon him. Alex manages to gain the sticks that control his parents and the children, and using his knowledge of Gladys' witchcraft, he commandeers the spell.
This sets the children upon Gladys, who flees the house and runs through the streets from the screaming young army. The children catch up to Gladys and set upon her, tearing her apart. When Archer catches up to the group, they silently surround the mutilated corpse of Gladys.
The epilogue notes that while all the children were recovered safely, many of them were never the same after their ordeal, and most of them had been unable to speak since.
Still wondering why the movie is called Weapons? Check out our full breakdown here!
