‘Weapons’ directed by Zach Cregger
Warner Bros.
Weapons is a layered story told through different character perspectives, with a compelling metaphor at the heart of the film.
In the very first scene, Weapons jumps right into its terrible mystery—one night, at 2:17am, every child from Mrs. Gandy’s classroom left their beds and disappeared into the night, seemingly of their own volition.
It’s a great hook, followed by a thrilling sequence of chapters showing the different perspectives of multiple characters—when the twist finally arrives, it almost seems obvious.
What Is The Plot Of ‘Weapons’?
Warning—Spoilers Ahead
The film starts from the perspective of Justine (Julia Garner), the unfortunate “Mrs. Gandy” of the missing classroom. The only child left remaining is Alex (Cary Christopher), and he doesn’t want to talk about it.
The town suspects Justine has something to do with the bizarre disappearances, as the parents are becoming increasingly (and understandably) hysterical.
Facing a tragedy that defies any logical explanation, the parents blame the only adult in the room, and Justine is labelled a “witch,” spelling out the twist villain of the film in bold red letters.
The perspective switches from Justine to a cop, Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), to concerned dad, Archer (Josh Brolin), to the school principal, Marcus (Benedict Wong), and petty criminal James (Austin Abrams), who are all pulled into the chaos spiral.
Each chapter adds another piece to the puzzle, the characters fumbling through the nightmare with fear, confusion and grief. The big consistency is the black hole at the center of it all—the shadowy doorway of Alex’s house.
During Archer’s dark, prophetic dream, Alex’s house is illuminated by a giant assault rifle floating above the roof, bearing the fateful numbers, 2:17. Archer’s subconscious seems to be screaming at him, the dream logic implying that the children have been weaponized.
Archer is confused, and so are we, but with each new chapter, the viewer gets a little more context. Weapons unfolds perfectly, echoing the unusual structure of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster.
Each new perspective offers a clearer view of the mystery, and by the time the final card is flipped, revealing Aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) as the witch at the center of the web, it feels intuitively right.
The “scary witch” reveal could have easily come across as underwhelming or even silly, but Weapons builds up Gladys as a true terror.
What is ‘Weapons’ Really About?
Like any film, Weapons supports multiple readings, but the film’s witch very much behaves like an abuser, taking advantage of kindness, hiding under a facade of weakness.
Gladys enters the home of Alex’s parents by appealing to their empathy and transforms the house into her nest, and her hosts into slaves.
You could even compare Aunt Gladys to a pathological narcissist, drawing energy from those under her control and always seeking more victims.
Once his parents have been reduced to mindless zombies, Alex is told, in no uncertain terms, to never reveal what is happening behind closed doors. If he ever tells another child, teacher or authority figure, then Gladys will punish his parents.
She gives Alex a startlingly gruesome display, forcing his parents to enthusiastically stab themselves with forks. This is how Gladys enslaves Alex—no magic, just fear.
Soon, she forces Alex to become part of her web. Gladys needs more than two bodies to stay young, as her unnatural longevity seems to be fading.
Alex helps her ensnare the other children at school by stealing a personal item from them all, enabling her to summon them to her house at 2:17am.
Alex is then tasked with keeping her slaves alive, patiently feeding them one spoon at a time. The stoic Alex is, of course, too frightened to tell a soul.
When the kindly Justine tries to reach out to him, he keeps his distance (notably, Justine is reprimanded for being too personal with her students at the beginning of the film).
‘Weapons’ Reinvents The Witch
The bald-headed, aggressively eccentric witch of Weapons is very much in the spirit of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, far removed from recent lighthearted depictions.
Gladys is also a bit of a vampire, drawing life energy from her victims.
Whatever Gladys really is, she doesn’t seem human. Amy Madigan’s striking performance is both funny and frightening, her witch an ancient, otherworldly being that only really understands power.
In her world, power comes from thorny, bloodstained “wands,” bowls of water and bells. Only by using her own tools against her does Alex succeed.
The death of Gladys is surprisingly funny, showing the powerful witch sprinting away from a small army of murderous children who, when they finally catch her, pull her apart like a piñata.
The film ends on a bold, bittersweet note—Alex has won, but is too late. The witch has already fed on the life force of these people, and most of them are so damaged that they never spoke again.
His parents are alive, but dead.
Hence, Alex is sent to live with a “good aunt,” and has at least escaped the cursed magic of Aunt Gladys.
Will There Be A ‘Weapons’ Sequel?
Weapons firmly concludes the story with the death of the witch and the damage done. However, there might be other witches, or other creatures out there in the world of Weapons.
Director Zach Cregger seems open to a sequel, telling Variety, ”I have another idea for something in this world that I’m kind of excited about.”
“I’m not going to do it next, and I probably won’t do it after my next movie,” Cregger added, “but I do have one and I’d like to see it on the screen one day.”
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2025/08/11/the-twisted-horror-of-weapons-explained/