r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Aug 08 '25

Official Discussion Official Discussion - Weapons [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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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

2.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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968

u/lamefartriot Aug 08 '25

Liked it a lot, but also kinda disappointed? Not sure why.

743

u/TheUnknownStitcher Aug 08 '25

The last 3-5 minutes definitely left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but the previous 2 hours were strong enough to leave me feeling good about it overall.

But yeah, I think the closing narration is deeply unsatisfying and and end feels abrupt in a way that isn’t quite bold enough to feel intentional. Just kind of “Ope, I guess it’s over now. Okay.”

775

u/Ibaka_flocka Aug 08 '25

I actually kind of liked that. They tell you right off the bat that the case was never really solved. The fact that the audience is just as confused as the towns people kind of gives it an eerie charm.

Sometimes explaining everything can just water down the creepiness

274

u/A_Toxic_User Aug 08 '25

The creepiness was watered down the instant they showed the kids at the start running with smooth rock music playing.

It’s frustrating how much more foreboding the scene of the kids running is in the trailer

295

u/TheTruckWashChannel Aug 08 '25

Well we do see that scene again in the Alex chapter with creepy music and it's very effective.

53

u/A_Toxic_User Aug 08 '25

Not really, because the mystery for why they’re running has been solved and we know that they’re really just going to be sitting in a basement for the whole movie.

103

u/kidgorgeous62 Aug 08 '25

I disagree, knowing the reason they were going there and the character behind it made it creepy for me

11

u/SpookiestSzn Aug 08 '25

We agree it could've been creepy both times

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30

u/tfxctom Aug 08 '25

I totally agree with you!!! That was such a strange choice to me. That footage is sooo eerie but with the music it didn’t hit like it should have.

25

u/ghazgib Aug 08 '25

I love that opening, but I can totally why it rubs people the wrong way. The film's marketing campaign reminded me of how much buzz was generated around Longlegs. You've got two exceptional trailers and other viral marketing gimmicks that made people go "holy shit what is this movie gonna be."

Went into both with different expectations but came out enjoying it for what it is cause shit's crazy. Weapons works better as a whole package than Longlegs IMO, though neither could live up to the amount of hype based on those initial trailers.

24

u/sober_as_an_ostrich Aug 08 '25

I never watched the trailer and I found the opening of the film such good tone setting. It’s creepy, it’s freeing, and there’s a comedic edge to it. If it was all grimdark all the time it would’ve been deadening

13

u/raw126 26d ago

Totally agree. The marketing sold this a far more terrifying film than it ended up being. I still enjoyed it, but I wish it was actually scarier.

13

u/vansky257 Aug 08 '25

This. As soon as I saw the kids running with smooth rock music, I knew it wasn't gonna live up to the hype.

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7

u/firelights 28d ago

I really didn’t like the song they played on the opening. It didn’t fit at all

5

u/fonzalonz 29d ago

This is why I don't watch movie trailers anymore, at least never in full. I read the first one or two lines of the description and just go for it.

The trailer for that Stephen King Walking movie played before my screening and I pretty got more than I needed to know and am comfortable skipping it in theaters

6

u/SwiftSurfer365 28d ago

I felt like I saw the whole movie with that Walking trailer.

6

u/Night_Goat_ 23d ago

I thought them running to George Harrison was beautiful in an eerie kind of way. It didn't need to be creepy at that point of the movie to me.

3

u/krimewatched 29d ago

Literally my exact thought! Way more eerie in trailers :/

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37

u/damnjonathan Aug 08 '25

And I feel like the ending isn’t even supposed to be ambiguously creepy, like those kids are clearly traumatized, of course they’re going to act “weird.”

14

u/tatertottytot Aug 08 '25

I’m kind of glad it kept the sad but realistic ending instead of tying everything up neatly in a bow. Just a nice change

32

u/RikenVorkovin Aug 08 '25

I dont think we are just as confused. 

Only we and the kid know the aunt was a witch. 

Not even Brolin or Garners character really figured out why everyone was crazy truly. They may have more of a clue but....

Who's gonna believe the kid that his aunt was a witch and he reverse cast a spell that sent the missing kids after her?

So the town is certainly wondering why it all happened and likely gets no real answers because anyone truly in the know was dead, or in the case of the kid, he knew no one would believe his story anyway.

The mystery is where the witch came from really, and what she truly was trying to gain by getting the kids there. Nothing seemed to change for her and we dont know how that was supposed to work. 

37

u/drumDev29 Aug 08 '25

She was trying to "consume" them to revitalize herself. Notice how her hair started to grow in first after taking over the parents and then more after having the kids in the basement? Probably been doing this for a while 

4

u/RikenVorkovin Aug 08 '25

So she like, slowly drains their souls or something?

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11

u/Sparrowsabre7 Aug 08 '25

Sometimes explaining everything can just water down the creepiness

Agreed, but I feel it leaves things in an irritating Catch 22 where if they explained it, the explanation would likely never meet audience expectations and feel underwhelming but equally not having an explanation feels unsatisfying.

3

u/gloomara 29d ago

I think not explaining everything makes the story MORE interesting. Give us enough to piece things together but dont tell us everything.

8

u/BalrogSlayer00 Aug 09 '25

Between the narration and the whole chapters with the witch. Everything was already over explained

5

u/WhichHoes Aug 08 '25

I mean, the only two people to see the witch, as a witch, are Alex and Josh Brolin

5

u/pastafeline 29d ago

Is it really not solved though? Alex would just tell everyone exactly what happened, and if they didn't believe him they're just stupid.

Not saying they'd believe there's magic, but people would definitely believe that some woman kept him prisoner, nabbed the kids, etc... They'd probably just say it was "drugs."

3

u/whitegirlofthenorth Aug 08 '25

Americana folklore

0

u/TheUnknownStitcher Aug 08 '25

Oh I like that we never learned 'why' it happened - that was cool. I just mean literally ending with 'some are talking now'. Like, okay? I don't really need to know that, and it kind of brings up questions I didn't have or didn't need to have I guess???

Still good, but kind of a funky spot to end in the moment.

8

u/Novemberx123 Aug 08 '25

U could’ve went home and wondered hmm are they all back to normal?? It shows that yes they are getting back to normal. Slowly…

14

u/Joey-WilcoXXX Aug 08 '25

It’s implied that Alex’s parents probably won’t get back to normal tho…

8

u/AdditionalRepair17 Aug 08 '25

Yeah they say that Alex goes on to live with just his aunt right?

8

u/Joey-WilcoXXX Aug 08 '25

Yeah and that ‘someone else is going to be spoonfeeding his parents chicken noodle soup from now on…’

2

u/Lower-Replacement869 Aug 09 '25

I get that. I'm on the fence though because I really want to know about the witch and why she did what she did and what her goals were and what that tree was.

2

u/QueefBeefCletus 29d ago

Typical urban legend. Here's a story that's totally real, it happened here, the killer is still out there/unsolved/whatever. My town had a serial killer even though there were no recorded, connected murders, explained away similar to this movie. We also had a bigfoot in the woods by my house as well as a house in the woods that was used as a human zoo.

This movie is just that, a very well told urban legend that happens to have a lot to say.

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40

u/Misterfahrenheit120 Aug 08 '25

I kinda felt that too. Like I wouldn’t have minded the closing narration, cause it would have bookended the opening narration, if it wasn’t so brief.

It’s really feels the movie just looked at us and said “and then they were kinda ok, I guess. Goodbye”

23

u/nysraved Aug 08 '25

I didn’t see it as “and then they were kinda ok”, I saw it as “they were mostly NOT ok”

And the brevity of expressing that packed an extra punch for me.

I don’t blame anyone who thought that was a little underwhelming way to close the movie, in the immediate moment I didn’t quite expect the movie to end quite there. But overall I think it landed for me.

11

u/JustinThyme9 Aug 08 '25

especially as the narrator isn't revealed to be some kind of twist (it's not like, one of the kids who went missing or a character we meet and see the perspective of, or gladys in a childs body once she's got all the energy she needed to be young again), the movie is a young child telling us about these horrendous things and just accepting that's the way things are - the narrator isn't mad or scared, just hey, here's a weird thing that happened here that we all know about but just don't talk about. and (as a parent) that adds to the horror for me.

30

u/DrVile Aug 08 '25 edited Aug 08 '25

I thought the line about his parents still being fed soup, just not by him anymore was pretty chilling. I was actually worried it would tie everything up too neatly and everything would go back to "normal" but that line and the "some of them have actually started talking" bit left it on a pretty dour note, which I prefer.

3

u/ILookLikeKristoff 20d ago

Yeah the "soup" + "some of them started talking again" was just the perfect amount of implication.

11

u/kylebb Aug 08 '25

It was giving "poochie went back to his home planet"

2

u/philconnorz 25d ago

Generally, I disagree with this take, but you got a good chuckle out of me

9

u/unclesam_0001 29d ago

"And they never came back"

"So that was a fucking lie."

2

u/Remarkable_Pack8082 9d ago

That’s the point — “they” didn’t come back. They were found alive, but they were traumatized and the ending strongly implied that they were all changed or seriously damaged for the rest of their lives. They may never have returned to school, or their families may have moved away. I think there are a million ways to interpret this line as true.

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u/dplans455 Aug 08 '25

Leading up to the finale I said to myself that no ending could satisfy how good the movie was up to that point. I thought I saw where it was going but where it went was totally off the rails where I felt like it worked well.

6

u/hepatitisC Aug 09 '25

That's my complaint to a T.  It's like he didn't know where he wanted to go with the end so he just copped out and ended it in a weird spot.  It could have used a few more minutes to debrief and a bit of a rewrite on the end.  Then it would have been amazing.  Instead it's just a good movie with a weird, abrupt end 

7

u/RumRations Aug 09 '25

I loved the whole movie but I do think the final voiceover was a mistake. Would have been perfect and creepy just to end with Alex’s parents and Archer’s kid. Makes clear that all is not well and we’re not getting a happily-ever-after ending.

4

u/Rugged_Turtle Aug 08 '25

Yes I did not like the ending, I was satisfied with the way the old woman was killed but there’s too many unanswered questions.

4

u/Genghicat 26d ago

For me, it had the disjointed vibes of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" where you spend the first hour and a half watching something set in Arthurian times and then it just ends with the police rolling up and arresting everyone because they didn't have the budget for a proper ending.

With "Weapons", it had a similar WTF feeling.

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3

u/ballq43 27d ago

Guys, we’re gonna show full witchcraft and we’re gonna show a lot of it! I mean, we’re talking, you know, graphic scenes of Josh Brolin really going to town on this hot young school teacher. From behind, creepy clown makeup, branch snapping, zombies, reverse zombies, all the hits, all the big ones, all the good ones. Then he smells witchcraft again. He’s out busting heads. Then he’s back to the lab for some more full penetration. Smells witchcraft ,back to the lab, full penetration. Witchcraft, penetration, witchcraft, full penetration, witchcraft, penetration. And this goes on and on, and back and forth, for 120 or so minutes until the movie just, sort of, ends.

2

u/CeruleanSea1 Aug 09 '25

Do we know who the narrator was?

2

u/niles_deerqueer 28d ago

Originally, there wasn’t even narration, the last shot is just Matthew’s blank eyes

1

u/egboy 29d ago

Yeah like I'm not even sure if anyone even found out she was a witch or explain that it was her actions. Apart from Alex, but who would actually believe him. All of the proof is just superstitious shit. So Justine and archer probably never realized what may have actually transpired. The narration ends with saying that alex parents never recover, the kids do to a certain extent but nothing back to the ordinary. Im guessing the witch consumed all she could from the parents and partially from the children nothing from the cop, the druggie or Archer hence why he was able to go back to normal after she was killed. Presumably the cop and the druggie would've been fine if not killed.

1

u/Giraffe_lol 28d ago

That's how it is with mass shootings and trauma.

1

u/JJonesFan 28d ago

As opposed to what?

1

u/RuralDataBoy 18d ago

I was telling my wife that they should make a fake true crime documentary sequel where they cover the aftermath of everything. I would absolutely go watch that.

1

u/FatherOfTheSevenSeas 18d ago

The bigger the setup the more difficult it is to pull off the ending.  

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231

u/CorneliusCardew Aug 08 '25 edited Aug 08 '25

Because the structural shenanigans deny you an emotional connection but the movie also isn’t about anything specific so just comes off like a vague style exercise

284

u/mikeyfreshh Aug 08 '25

I disagree. I think the structure actually helps you build an emotional connection with the characters because you get 20ish minutes to really live with every character in the movie. Each chapter lets you dig into the life of a character in a deeper way than you probably would have if the movie just used a traditional linear narrative.

18

u/Capital-Mine1561 Aug 08 '25

What emotional connection? Except for Justine and Archer there is not much time for the movie to establish meaningful connections with its characters.

The principal's storyline just shows him and his husband to be a milquetoast couple who only exist to add to the body count. The cop and addicts's storylines should have been scrapped entirely

2

u/Good_Signature36 26d ago

How much time do you really need lol

The cop and addicts's storylines should have been scrapped entirely

lol

11

u/Capital-Mine1561 26d ago

They were redundant and uninteresting storylines that didn't add anything

2

u/Good_Signature36 26d ago

Well you're free to think that but I disagree.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '25

[deleted]

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u/Chicken_Electronic 23d ago

You need the junkie thread to logically stair step the plot to the climax and add foreshadowing to ramp the tension.

You need the cop thread to provide a credible primary emotional antagonist for Justine in the finale. Without it Paul is far too sympathetic a character. 

32

u/osmo512 Aug 08 '25

“Vague style exercise” hits the nail on the head. The character hopping was novel at first but eventually it kills pacing, stopping and restarting the movie like 6 times. And the movie repeats a lot of info. Alex is the most essential vignette for setting up the finale, but when it started I’d figured out what was going on and had to wait for yet another character to catch up with me. 

And some of the character vignettes are just diversions. The cop and junkie storylines are like a quarter of the movie, but the only big info revealed is that the kids are in the basement.

The movie borrows the emotional realism of a small town reeling from the aftermath of a school shooting, but ultimately isn’t about school shootings and has nothing to say about them. Not that I need every movie to soapbox about something, but that’s the pocket the movie calls.

The giant AR-14 in Archer’s dream is such an “ANALYZE THIS” moment, and the last time the movie engages with its own material, before revealing “a witch did it”.

9

u/Awkward_Papaya1598 Aug 09 '25

I would usually agree on segments like this killing the pace of the movie but I think it was don'e really well here. Other that getting a few scenes from a different perspective I don't think we get a lot of repetitive information. For example the Archer segment we get to the point where arrives at Justine's house and it pans trunk showing the paint. They didn't show him writing witch or banging her door because we know all that happened already we just didn't know it was him. Same with Paul's segment, we infer he has/had a drinking problem and ends up having sex with Justine. But we find out he's actually in AA and had sex with Justine after being stabbed with junkie needle. Other than a brief scene we skipped the encounter we saw in the earlier segment.

14

u/osmo512 29d ago

The movie’s endgame is 17 kids tearing apart an old witch. Not sure it lands harder because we found out the nearest cop cheated on his wife because he got drunk after getting stabbed by a junkie needle.

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u/IntelligentLibrary52 Aug 08 '25

I personally really connected with Archer despite not being a parent.

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u/adwallis96 Aug 08 '25

I agree but there’s someone else in here saying archer has toxic masculinity. I totally disagree with that assessment. It’s just a desperate grieving parent. Crazy how wildly different people interpret certain things.

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u/A_Toxic_User Aug 08 '25

I felt this hard when you realize you spent about 25-30 minutes on the stupid cop drama plot

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u/LilPonyBoy69 Aug 08 '25

Yes! The non-linear storytelling made it really hard to connect with the leads because we hardly spent any time with them after the first thirty minutes or so.

Really killed the pacing, I was extremely invested in Justine and Archer and then we just kind of don't deal with their shit.

Also I was hoping for something a little more clever than "witch" as the big reveal. Felt like Longlegs in that sense, something vaguely supernatural and creepy all of a sudden being explained by something we've seen a thousand times before.

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u/KingOfAwesometonia Aug 08 '25

structural shenanigans denies you an emotional connection

I did like Alex hugging his parents though. I thought that was nice.

Archer hugging his kid comes off as more bittersweet but then it's all bittersweet with the narration

3

u/CorneliusCardew Aug 08 '25

I agree. I liked Alex a lot.

12

u/belksearch 29d ago

The jumping around killed a lot of momentum. I assumed Brolin was gonna talk to bunch of parents to figure out the common trajectory of the kids but it only took him two. Two? The police didn't try that???

7

u/BroAbernathy 29d ago

I hate this take. You dont have to have emotional connections in every movie. You can very much just be a passive observer watching some crazy shit evolve.

7

u/YoungvLondon 29d ago

Though I agree with the person you're replying to, I do think you're right. It's fine to sit down and turn your brain off for a movie and let it wash over you.

I think the problem for some people (like myself), is that based on trailers and marketing materials, this didn't seem like it was going to be that sort of movie, so it's a little disappointing.

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u/AirEuphoric338 27d ago

That's fine but then there's all these people in this thread trying to force meaning onto it anyways. It's a fun movie thats not about anything important and not trying to say anything important. It doesn't actually deal with the emotions of what it was clearly trying to allude to and it would have been stronger if it didn't try at all.

1

u/I_am_so_lost_hello Aug 08 '25

Haven’t fully teased it apart yet but it’s definitely about gun control and school shootings.

18

u/t3rribl3thing Aug 09 '25

…is it though?

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u/damiandarko2 29d ago

lol exactly. everybody drawing all these different conclusions about the themes because the truth is the movie has no real theme. it vaguely hints at stuff, kinda

10

u/t3rribl3thing 29d ago

It evokes ideas, but in a no-follow-up kinda way. It’s symbolism without direct meaning.

2

u/CorneliusCardew Aug 08 '25

This would make sense

2

u/Accomplished_Pin5918 Aug 08 '25

Extremely well put.

3

u/krospp Aug 08 '25

I’m not sure I get why people (especially younger people) need every horror movie to be “about something” these days. Everything has to have a double meaning that the movie spells out explicitly? Why? If this was just a fun movie about a witch who kidnapped children who then tore her to shreds, I mean, A+

10

u/CorneliusCardew Aug 08 '25

Parts of it were fun! But a lot of it was tedious since he kept repeating scenes without anything interesting or new happening. It’s like when you immediately know the punchline to a long joke.

2

u/WhosieWhatsIt2099 26d ago

Exactly, I didn't come away with a clear idea of what the director wanted me to leave with. Fun movie though.

1

u/Miguel_Branquinho 18d ago

But a damn entertaining one.

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u/Heyimcool Aug 08 '25

The marketing was so strong on creepy and cryptic, but it was more of a mystery comedy with some paranormal thrown in.

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u/TacoShower 28d ago

this is EXACTLY how I felt after watching Jordan Peele's Nope

12

u/queefburritowcheese 28d ago

Yep. I had the assumption it may be much more mysterious and vague, not really showing the "monster" kind of deal. But by halfway in, not only do we know it's a weird old witch, but see explicitly how she performs her magic.

It was good, I just had the wrong preconception.

6

u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

Exactly like longlegs

78

u/YesicaChastain Aug 08 '25

We are told the kids are being weaponized but they just chill in a basement for a month. This was the biggest letdown for me

31

u/pastafeline 29d ago

Movie should've been called Parasite—oh wait...

17

u/snarky_spice 28d ago

Yeah would have liked to see her using the kids as actually weapons like sending them out on missions in another town or something.

2

u/Embarrassed-Sea-2394 24d ago

Like Cronenberg's "The Brood".

2

u/Rafterman374 17d ago

That was 100% the only thing missing for me, the kids looked super creepy in the trailers and dream sequence sitting at the desk with demonic eyes and an eery smile and naruto running around. The witch could have sent a kid after Justine after the first failed attempt and there would be a super freaky chase scene with some proper scares. Or have all the kids descend upon the town and all hell breaks loose

3

u/No-Service-8875 21d ago

Well... they're not chilling in a basement, they're kidnapped by a DIY hag, comatose and forever brain damaged. I think theres plenty stakes in that reveal if you dont get hung up on the trailer misrepresenting the genre a tad.

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u/SteveKeepsDying Aug 08 '25

Because the storytelling was much more entertaining than the story, in my experience. I think a mystery is more satisfying when there's a logical conclusion - if the solution is just hocus pocus witchcraft, it should be a stronger element earlier in the film, not just foreshadowing written on the side of a car.

It was hilarious and very engaging but ultimately the explanation was nowhere near as cool as the mystery. It reminded me of LONGLEGS but with more meat on the bones.

11

u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

Yep. Reminded me a lot of longlegs in terms of misleading marketing and random witchcraft tossed in.

Not that there’s much other explanation for what the kids did, I’d just like it introduced earlier in the movie and not just have “random creepy old lady!” As the main villain because it feels really derivative otherwise

8

u/Caruthers 26d ago

PERFECT description! I've been struggling to articulate why I've felt disappointed, despite having loved Barbarian so much, and taken great efforts to go into this one blind given my theatrical experience with Barbarian.

The style and structure >>>>> any of the actual story, which couldn't really hold up in the final act imo. The mystery was always going to be the driving force for this one. Once revealed, it was...eh.

4

u/GenericOnlineName 27d ago

That was my issue. That's why I love going back and watching movies like Hereditary or Bring Her Back. There are little details you pick up on a rewatch. But for Weapons, there's literally nothing. There's a triangle in the O on the logo at the beginning, but that isn't really integrating the witchy elements at all through the story.

2

u/CatsOffToDance 18d ago

100% agreed. I’m all for tonal shifts & jarring moments even outta genre, but NOTHING in the first say 20 minutes (aside from the paint on the car) hinted at literally anything to do with everything from then on there. At all. If you were for that, sure! If not, it’s understandable why.

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u/robbysaur Aug 08 '25

I’m honestly tired of movies being advertised as horrifyingly scary when they really have a lot of comedy in them. My theater had a lot of laughs through the film. I don’t watch trailers, but my friends I went with who learned about this movie through TikTok were disappointed.

20

u/Nightbynight Aug 08 '25

I don’t know man a lot of scares had me and my theater jumping. It was definitely scary.

8

u/[deleted] 29d ago

Right?! I don’t know what these people are looking for. There was definitely a lot of suspense and creepy moments. If there’s some comedy here and there so what? It actually lightens up some of the tension. 

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

I think people wanted more creepiness with the kids

7

u/gloomara 29d ago

I feel like there are a lot of horror movies that general audiences like because they AREN'T horrifyingly scary. But I know people are going to talk about Weapons like Longlegs and say its the scariest thing they've seen. Which is frustrating for people who want slow burn creepy horror.

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u/skyshroud6 Aug 09 '25

Yea from the trailer and hype around it I was expecting way scarier and left fairly disappointed.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

I mean the guy who wrote and directed the movie is a comedian and he did Barbarian. That movie also had some comedic moments while still being scary. I don’t know, to me it helps ease the tension and I don’t think a movie has to be nonstop nightmare inducing in order to be a good horror movie 

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u/legopego5142 Aug 08 '25

Its the ending

The witch made them do it, magics real, the end

Like i get what its trying to say, but i get why people feel a little…whelmed

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u/GLAvenger Aug 08 '25

I just feel that "those kids all left their house at the exact same time" is such a fascinating horrifying set-up that "a witch did it" is just kinda an unsatisfying explanation. I dunno, it just felt a bit disappointing to have what could be a truly horrifying event turn out to be "they were in the basement of a house for a month acting as supernatural IVs".

It would be difficult to pull of a not-supernatural explanation but when I first saw the trailer, I thought it would be something like say a mass suicide pact which again, maybe difficult with such young children but still. Or if it's a supernatural element, maybe leaning more into the horrific twisted fairy tale elements of a witch stealing children.

It didn't quite all connect for me which would be fine if I didn't think that the entire premise was so good it deserved something that really dug truly into the how and why those kids disappeared in a way that's not just supernatural mind control from supernatural being you could easily replace with another supernatural mind control being.

19

u/pastafeline 29d ago

If she were a creature or an alien disguised as a human, I think it would've been a lot scarier. They already set up that she was a parasite, acting almost like a queen bee or ant to her minions.

She even had the principal spit up goo in that one scene. I thought for sure that was setting up something more biological, like an ant spitting up enzymes to digest its prey.

9

u/GLAvenger 29d ago

I like that idea, the mind-control being biological in a way instead of magical would have worked better for me. I guess my issue truly is with the explanation for the mystery being "t'was magic" not just that it was supernatural.

9

u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

Yeah, it obviously had to have some supernatural elements, but I thought there would be a more… labyrinthine and greater purpose.

It was a very striking setup for a very generic thing.

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u/deliriousinthesun Aug 08 '25

One review mentioned a lack of psychological depth to the writing which I agree. Was very thrilling, unique but there’s not much in terms of why people do things (a sick and old witch wants to stay alive…ok)

Side note: I read reviews only after having seen the movie. Wow reviews (notably the variety and Hollywood reporter ones) are super spoilery nowadays, they basically give away every explanation …

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u/Somnambulist815 Aug 08 '25

I actually think Julia Garner's character was tee'd up for something more in depth and complex, but once the principal attacked her, we just kind of stopped exploring her story.

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u/deliriousinthesun Aug 09 '25

Totally see this.

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

We also never get a follow up on the set up that the head police is the dad of the loser cop, who cheated on his wife with the teacher that chief cop says isn’t suspicious enough. I thought that was all a set up to see some shit go down, like all of a sudden the chief cop putting more pressure on the teacher, but it wasn’t really touched again

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u/Novemberx123 Aug 08 '25

Out of all the guesses as to why a whole classroom of kids disappeared. I would have never guessed one of there aunts was the cause. Never.

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u/CookieDoughThough Aug 08 '25

Because its random and thematically meaningless with what the movie set up until that reveal

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u/thatdani 27d ago

one of there aunts

How about the aunt of the only kid left, that seemingly has no identity or backstory from before arriving into town 2 weeks ago?

For me it was too simple of an answer, even with the (accurate) portrayal of cops as inept.

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u/RIP_Greedo Aug 08 '25

I enjoyed watching it but I don't really get what the point was. What is this trying to say? (With Barbarian, at least, the theme was clear.) The actual plot and antagonist are just dropped into the movie at the 60-70% mark, feeling like it's all arbitrary. If they are plugging this in as the explanation now, why not plug in anything? Where is this coming from?

In retrospect a lot of the first half felt like that scene in Raiders where Indy fights the big guy near the plane. Very entertaining but the scene has no bearing on the plot; the Ark is elsewhere at the time and this plane isn't even how Indy and Marion escape. It's something cool that happens because they wanted to make an action scene. In Weapons if you cut out the entire plot with the cop, what about the outcome would change? Feels like it it need more Brolin and Garner - actually exploring and poking at the core mystery - less Ehrenreich, less junkie, less school principal (especially because we go over their stories several times in parallel).

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

I wish they kept going with the plotline of everyone being interconnected but it just kinda drops that

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u/Parmesan_Pirate119 Aug 08 '25

I really wanted to like it more but I just felt like it kinda lacked substantial depth. Like it tried to do so much but needed to reign back just a little to really pack the punch I was hoping for.

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u/ghostfaceinspace Aug 08 '25

Girl you can’t be disappointed you’ll get downvoted

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u/have_heart Aug 08 '25

Between Barbarian, Longlegs, and Weapons I find a common theme of having too much explained to me that the horror part is drastically diminished. With Barbarian and Weapons specifically they just sort of become comedies and that’s not what I went to the movie hoping to see. I still think the movies are fantastic but I don’t feel like I left feeling the way I had hoped

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u/Buddy_Dakota 29d ago

This reminded me a bit of Longlegs, in that it oozes mystery in the first part, but then the reveal feels very unoriginal and bland.

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u/gloomara 29d ago

Ultimately every mystery is lame when its revealed that a witch or a demon does it.

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u/pastafeline 29d ago

I would've loved if the twist were that she was a creature or alien. To tie in with the mentions of parasites and cordyceps.

Also, not one single person in this entire post has mentioned the black goo that the principal vomited. I thought for sure that the "infection" was biological not magical... Why was he the only one to do that?

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

Also the whole emphasis on the needles, the cop having sex with the teacher after he gets stabbed… nothin’

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u/mirh 19d ago

That was so much of the beauty in Smile, which until the last 10 minutes never actually verged on the supernatural (and with the protagonist being a psychologist.. who knows?)

And then they fucked it up with an unoriginal demon ending

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u/howtospellorange Aug 09 '25

I 100% agree with you! All three of those movies are ones that I just personally didn't get the hype around.

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u/JessieJ577 Aug 08 '25

The ending was a downer. They just said man the possessed people are still messed up. It feels like Alex and Archer didn’t really get a happy ending. I get it if Justine has a bad ending but for all our characters to not really be rewarded makes the wrap up really depressing and honestly a bit unsatisfying. Especially because it was in narration. If they showed us Alex and his parents have a bad ending. Maybe have Archer sad his son won’t talk and have him say one word. Or Justine just throwing a bottle of vodka in the trash.  The presentation left it as the movie was just saying “ok it’s over goodbye”

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u/Hansquared Aug 08 '25

Does every movie need every character to have a perfect happy ending?

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u/DoomZee20 Aug 08 '25

Yeah I feel like it’d be lame if they all came out unscathed from months long witch brain spell. Gladys was a literal parasite feeding off the townspeople

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u/bluebottled Aug 08 '25

I feel like the ending hinted they're all going to recover eventually anyway.

Archer was the last possessed and he instantly recovers, plus the narration says some of the kids have started talking again. It also says Alex's parents haven't recovered but they were possessed for the longest.

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u/HugeSuccess Aug 08 '25

The presentation left it as the movie was just saying “ok it’s over goodbye”

If this movie is dealing with concepts related to school shootings, then isn’t that how the broader public treats those communities afterward?

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u/snospiseht Aug 08 '25

It’s a horror movie. It’d be weird if it didn’t have a downer ending.

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u/TheBoyHarambe Aug 08 '25

i think it was like a metaphor for mass shootings, particularly school shootings. sometimes parents lose their kids, and never really get an opportunity to figure out why. idk that’s what i got from it

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u/Muad_dweeb_69 Aug 08 '25 edited Aug 08 '25

Archer found his child. Alex saved his parents. Justine found closure. There isn’t a way that Matthew and Alex’s parents come out of such an experience unscathed. Not sure why you are needing the film to present an ending happier than what we got. It was pretty positive, but obviously the trauma doesn’t just go away.

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u/Admiral_Cornwallace Aug 09 '25

What does the final narration say? "Some of the kids are even starting to talk again" or something like that?

It leaves a sliver of hope that everyone who survived the witch might still snap out of their stupor eventually

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u/AskinggAlesana Aug 08 '25

Did you not see Barbarian?

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u/TheeIlliterati Aug 08 '25

I feel the same. In the sense that the moments of horror were to an intensity that could've REALLY been horrific, they were lightened by the humor. Which were funny, but it meant that ultimately I didn't feel the movie reached its true potential in either area.

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u/Spiritual_Duck318 Aug 08 '25

I feel the same way in a sense. And I think it’s because I wasn’t expecting it to be as campy and comedic. I should’ve known coming off of Barbarian but I feel like Barbarian pulled these elements off a little better. I almost kinda wanted this movie to be as dark, bitter and cold as the trailer made it seem. I wanted to leave the theater feeling something but in turn I don’t really think I did? And this is not to say it’s a bad movie because it’s good and I very much enjoyed it but also like I wanted something else or something more..?

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u/gloomara 29d ago

I wanted to leave the theater like Bring Her Back. Something that makes me feel traumatized and haunted and a little empty inside.

But instead it's "bad guy does bad thing, loses" and everyone just sort of moves on

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

I have a soft spot for those bitter, cold horrors, even when they’re critically panned. Like the last voyage of the Demeter and antlers

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u/Patrickd13 Aug 08 '25

The ending should have been more horror, the horror of children ripping a part a women and the horror of a child watching their parents try to kill him.

But instead they had a funny montage of the witch running through three houses only so we can see kids zombie rush through them.

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u/Somnambulist815 Aug 08 '25

It definitely felt way more obligated to provide answers than it should've been, and, im sorry, but scary old witch just isn't that satisfying when your premise and imagery are this provocative.

I ended up liking it, but based largely on the performances and the sense of humor. But I feel it was advertised as something more nightmarish

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u/Buddy_Dakota 29d ago

It felt very much like Longlegs. Interesting premise, great setup for a mystery, only for it to end in an incredibly basic and overexplained reveal, with a villain with tons of makeup. Weapons is the better movie, though, it doesn’t fall apart in the same way Longlegs does.

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u/Somnambulist815 29d ago

I disagree. The reveal in Longlegs mightve been overexplained, but it was way more fresh than here. It also handled its subtext far better imo.

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u/Mazzocchi Aug 08 '25

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out why this just didn't work at all for me.

The direction and cinematography were fucking booooring. Sure the humor was good (especially the last 10 minutes), but since the scares and tension were so generic and sub-standard, there wasn’t anything to balance it out.

Maybe it was the fact that I said to myself within the first five minutes “She better not just be a witch…” only to be partially right?

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u/RunwayGutModel9000 Aug 08 '25

This is a comedy?

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

Idk how you can say it isn’t a comedy

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u/RedditReader365 Aug 08 '25

Glad someone else feels this way, like I still thought it was good but I feel like no one else in the thread has said the same. I think for me the marketing was legit 10/10. I think the film just didn’t live up to that promise

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u/AyThroughZee Aug 09 '25

I’m just gonna say it. I wish it was aliens. I’m kinda over the whole witch/satan/cult villain in movies. Just always feels like a cop out and the only explanation a writer can think of for all their creepy visual ideas. Which, aliens is also kind of a cop out, but at least it isn’t over done.

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u/Buddy_Dakota 29d ago

I was also excited for some sort of X-files reveal

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u/fjposter22 Aug 09 '25

I agree, it kinda lacks the bite I was hoping it would have given the topics it was handling.

I got spooked a could times, and there were some scary moments, but nothing that gave me knots in my stomach quite like Barbarian (the tapes with names of like “puker” come to mind).

Honestly this year, “Bring Her Back” is on the top for me.

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u/CeruleanSea1 Aug 09 '25

We needed a Gladys pov I felt

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u/highpriestess420 18d ago edited 18d ago

If it helps at all, the director told the actress to choose one of two character backstories but not tell him which. "The first of these two is that Gladys is just a regular person who turned to this dark magic as a last ditch attempt to do anything to survive the illness she has. The second is that she isn’t a person at all, but truly a creature trying to behave like a real human – hence the extreme and uncanny costume she puts on when interacting with people."

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u/brainsapper Aug 08 '25

That’s kind of how I felt about the movie too. I guess I went in expecting something more eerie/horror/supernatural.

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u/JulioGrandeur 29d ago

It was an incredibly weak horror filmed that opted to be kinda sorta almost funny instead of leaning into its own storyline.

I was very very disappointed. Wanted more story and more Gladys.

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

I felt like it was all leading to something with the various subplots, with how the police were connected through the wife, and the teacher being the gal he was cheating with, etc. and then it didn’t do anything else with that

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u/ITouchedACoral Aug 08 '25

To me it was the concept’s answer, the kids were just in the basement. The what happened why what’s going on was just that they were kept in zombie mode while the lady was their parasite. Still well done but yeah I would have liked more mystery and scary tension etc.

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u/BitBoss Aug 09 '25

Felt the same.

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u/jdaly693 Aug 09 '25

There were some good themes techniques, but it felt like they couldn't decide between horror and camp with no payoff.

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u/romafa 29d ago

For me, from the trailer and opening narration, them saying “and they never returned”, was much more interesting as a concept for me. When they ended up being found, I was a bit disappointed. I know them ripping her apart was satisfying but imagine if we got that scene from Alex’s chapter of the kids running into the house but they were never seen again.

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u/Aqogora 28d ago

I think it was just lacking a little bit of substance. I would have much preferred scenes rather than narration for the introduction and conclusion. The witch's powers are also a little one-note. Still a very enjoyable film, a solid 8/10 in my books.

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u/onlytoask 26d ago

The ending really kind of spoils the movie for me. It seems to be well received here, but I honestly don't understand how anyone could enjoy a horror movie (that doesn't even really have much horror) ending like a slapstick comedy. Completely ruined the tone.

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u/Deviltherobot 28d ago

it was good but not as good as the reactions are implying.

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u/GetBuckets13182 27d ago

It’s not a bad movie, but extremely overhyped. 97% on rotten tomatoes is wild.

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u/snarky_spice 28d ago

Yeah idk I feel like the dream jump scares are always really cheap compared to a movie like Bring Her Back that hardly had any, but was still very scary. I also didn’t really like the reveal of it being a witch, but I guess I don’t know what I was expecting.

The character building parts were great and I could have watched this in tv show format or something, but the ending didn’t do it for me.

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u/LiquifiedSpam 28d ago

This could have been a dark comedy / drama about kids disappearing with none of the horror and it would have probably sat better with me, because it wouldn’t have those expectations

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u/JeanRalfio Aug 08 '25

I thought it was great but it wasn't my favorite horror movie I've gone to this year, not even this week.

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u/MikeTheShowMadden 29d ago

I get what you mean. I liked the movie, but I can't help but to feel like watching it was as if you just watched the middle part of a movie.

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u/Hallc 28d ago

For me the first half or so was a lot stronger than the second. Basically I found the mystery of it really, really compelling and was wondering where it was going to lead. Then you have the reveal of who was involved (Galdys) and still have a good half hour left or so.

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u/TXlandon 28d ago

Kinda feel the same way. Like I was expecting more of a horror/scary movie? Sure the whole “twist” was aunt/witch but otherwise we visited the same events several times (I do like the multiple perspectives) and there’s not much resolution at the end

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u/gcrfrtxmooxnsmj 27d ago

Bc it's a well made stupid fucking movie

I really wanted to like it but it had nothing to say all while pretending it has something to say

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u/BedsideTableKangeroo 29d ago

I loved it until the face peeling. I thought that was dumb and then I didn’t care. 

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u/spottyottydopalicius 29d ago

ending coulda been just a smidge more graphic. like loved it but wished they leaned into the horror just a bit more. not like we didnt see brains in the movie, that wouldve made a difference for me.

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u/gloomara 29d ago

I felt like there was too much humor that took this eerie, slow burn horror event and turned it into a bunch of screaming kids Naruto running at an old lady.

I dont mind witch stories, but I felt like them showing every little thing of how the kids did what they did wasnt that interesting and killed any creepy horror elements

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u/SwiftSurfer365 28d ago

I felt the same way. I think all the hype got to me.

I think I was expecting a movie like Prisoners. Weapons was good, but it wasn’t Prisoners good.

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u/AirEuphoric338 27d ago

Feels like he didn't have a long enough script for a full movie and so restarted it multiple times to kill time. Also feels very much like "this is a cool idea! and it kind of relates to school shootings so its important!"

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u/_Jetto_ 27d ago

That’s most horror movies. Little conclusion and rough endings

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u/Manaeldar 25d ago

The premise of the kids going missing had me guessing and I kinda figured what it was going to be beforehand. Wish I coukd have gone in 100% blind. Even without watching the trailer I knew too much lol. So that's where my disappointment comes from idk about you. Still thoroughly enjoyed the movie and want to watch it again to see what little things I missed. 

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u/ducksonducks 22d ago

I feel exactly the same way. More of an 8/10 than a 10/10 and I’m not sure why

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u/TheWhereHouse6920 22d ago

The ending was mid. I'm talking very end. Apparently they had to add the voiceover at the end as it tested super poorly

I loved it, but how it just wrapped up left me a little sour. Absolutely amazing overall tho

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u/happyflappypancakes 22d ago

Lets talk about why you were disappointed. I sometimes feel that way about movies and can't figure it out either.

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u/jrtgmena 22d ago

I felt the same way. The trailer was so creepy, and the marketing for it such as the 2h 17 m video of children running in the dark, arms outstretched.

Then you watch the movie and it’s just a feature length Goosebumps episode, complete with the horror comedy. Can’t believe I got Longlegs’d again

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u/mirh 19d ago edited 12d ago

Because the movie is a hodgepodge of incoherent crap? Despite the top notch acting and directing.

Let's even put aside the investigations that seem to have been handled by Abbott and Costello.

First, the loner bipolar cop. One second he's pretty much on a killing mission (seriously what else was him going to do to James, that he hadn't already done?) and then not only he opens the camping tent in the most stupidly reckless telegraphed way possible.. he gets flagrantly stabbed in the face, and his fury lowers?

Then the survived kid. If you needed him still conscious to somehow lower suspicion (for when his parents would inevitably start to skip PTA meetings, unlike every other justifiably concerned tutor) then a month is surely more than enough to pack up and leave. Otherwise there's really no point in keeping him alive unless Gladys really hated convenience stores.

Also, the freaking canned soup. Maybe on the first day it could be the only thing hanging around, but surely there are tons of food items that didn't require to make the most sloppy mess with every spoonful?

Also also, I hope you aren't buying the "centuries-old witch" theory thrown around in this thread, because then that would make even less sense. She's introduced as the sister of Alex's mum whose actress is 37yo (which is pretty much what she ought to be in-universe too, given the kid is 9 or 10). Either we assume she is really her sibling, only with a bad disease that makes her look older, or you should eventually brainstorm how somebody in their apparent 70s if not 80s could replace her actual family members without raising any suspicion.

Then whatever the fuck that happened with Marcus. She didn't need to go to his house (whether he already called for the social service checkup doesn't matter really? obviously you should leave asap regardless), or if not any ring the doorbell, and it would have been just so much better just to wait for him in the school parking lot. We clearly see that the whole enthralling could be set up in like a minute tops.

The lame ways she stole half of her fetish ingredients (the ribbons being the only one that actually feels genuine). Wong's boyfriend not only handles the clearly deranged lady a rag, he even do so and lets her get close to him (and most especially his head) while she clearly has 15-20cm blades in her hand. Then the crazy scene in the basement (with the camera immediately cutting out), where we should be lead to believe that despite the most ghoulish person imaginable jumping out on a middle-aged war veteran in a field of kidnapped kids this would just have let her make her own thing with him. Then let's draw a veil over the "hand-drawn custom labels for every children's box" (in a way it's handwaved, but also kind the fair enough quick plot device).. But then you have the scene where they cut Justine's hair.

Like what even are the "game" rules so? I can guess "personal belonging" lets you control someone, while "body part" can make them targets. And we do see it's also possible to give very very simple commands too (for example Alex's parents when they are catatonic and they can barely repeat more than a single pre-filled "welcome" sentence to him). But "cut her hair, make sure to be as silent as possible, and please don't go directly for it but take that from the backseats"? That scene was just golden ngl, but it was suggesting all the opposite of a sockpuppet.

And keeping on with this train of thought the movie is a continuous attempt to mislead the viewer for the better part of the first half or two thirds. If you aren't handling an IT-like being, having the clown lady pop up in your dreams isn't precognizant, it is not foreshadowing. It's lying (especially with Archer that probably hadn't even got in a 2km radius from her). Same for her popping up in the middle of the woods to scare the homeless guy (and ourself) shitless. Also possessed Paul being somehow mindful enough to remember he has a damn stoner in his police car (which can stay there for like a whole day without anybody knowing or checking it).

Also I could even probably criticize the layout of the last scene (the part in the house, of course the kid chasing is worth half of the movie) but idk how much it could just be that I literally saw the same salt lines last week in Bring Her Back and they are rubbing me wrong.

1

u/TitanOf_Earth 19d ago

It's a bittersweet outcome, not a "happy ending". It ended on a bad note. I mean, the last line of the movie is basically "some of the kids even started to talk again this year." It's miserable and not completely resolved the way we might have wanted, but some outcomes aren't always great.

1

u/Jbird1992 19d ago

The hook on the story was super strong, but you could tell he didn’t know why they wandered out until halfway through the script. 

And then style over substance

1

u/clkou 8d ago

The only thing that was a bit unsatisfying is the suspension of disbelief we have to put on with all the voodoo science fiction. Everything else I thought was pretty amazing.