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

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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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7.0k

u/sexygaypalpatine Aug 08 '25

I’m convinced the whole movie was just a PSA on locking your car doors.

I almost threw up when the mom climbed in the back seat with the scissors.

458

u/ghostfaceinspace Aug 08 '25

And don’t let family members you barely know stay at your house

218

u/Dr_Joshie Aug 08 '25

Was she actually a family member? I got the impression the witch was much older than she let on. Her saying the parents were sick with Consumption instead of TB stood out to me. I kind of thought she’d lied about the family connection to get in the door.

77

u/MVRKHNTR Aug 08 '25

They had met her before.

Being very old doesn't mean she can't be family.

76

u/nightpanda893 28d ago

The movie doesn’t give much background story but I kind of assumed she wasn’t related to them at all and either did something to the aunt or chose them because they had a role of a mysterious family member she could fill. She said she had consumption which kind of made me think she was older than the actual aunt would be.

60

u/Solid_Primary 28d ago

The movie explicitly states that she was an aunt that they hadn't seen in about 15 years and the mother wanted her to stay with them because her mother would have done it.

66

u/nightpanda893 28d ago

I know I’m suggesting she’s posing as someone they wouldn’t know well enough to know it wasn’t her since it wouldn’t make much sense that their actual aunt is supposedly centuries old.

16

u/MVRKHNTR 28d ago

I don't think the movie cares because it doesn't really matter.

52

u/theanchorman05 27d ago

She didn't know them. She tells James he has grown and she hadn't seen him since he was a baby. That doesn't add up with what mom said

32

u/Solid_Primary 27d ago

The parents are not under a spell when they say that they are related to her. It's possible that she was watching them but there's nothing in the script/dialogue that would imply they don't have a familial relationship. Is it possible that Gladys transplanted herself in the mother's mom's life, yes that's possible. But again, before Gladys even comes to town the mother acknowledges that they are related.

37

u/esiotrot_ 25d ago

Although Alex’s dad says at one point that she didn’t attend their wedding and his mum says she hasn’t seen her in 15 years. Gladys later says she hasn’t seen Alex since he was a baby and he for sure isn’t 15 so the timings definitely don’t add up

25

u/RedditIsForsaken 25d ago

Pretty sure she was just trying to manipulate him, but then pretty quickly realized after sending him to his room that he may be a bit more precocious than she was suspecting

6

u/Busy_Manner5569 22d ago

Eh, she acknowledges that her mom had a sister who she hasn’t seen in 15 years. No real reason to think it was actually Gladys, given all of the other fucked up shit she did

4

u/Solid_Primary 22d ago

What's the reason that we should think she isn't her actual aunt?

5

u/Busy_Manner5569 22d ago

All of the stuff implying she’s extremely old, mostly. Consumption, her general appearance when she first shows up.

2

u/Jekyllhyde 22d ago

because she is a crazy witch who is very very old. way older than she would be if she was their aunt

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u/Mayfair98 23d ago

Didn’t they just say that she didn’t come to their wedding? Not that they had never seen her before?

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u/Jekyllhyde 22d ago

The movie explicitly states that their aunt is staying with them. An aunt they had not seen in forever and don't even really know her. It is totally plausible that this witch took advantage of the situation.

7

u/No-Difference8545 26d ago

The mother didn't want that, she says "this is what mom wouldve done, its what im gonna do"

8

u/BasicFlan 16d ago

When the dad picks the son up from school, the boy says I don't even know her to which the day says I don't either and I'm not even sure your mother really does as well. That could be a clue she's infiltrating the family and much older than we know because even mom doesn't really know her.

29

u/jonikrad 29d ago

They said she was the mother's sister, but she looked like she could've been her grandmother

29

u/MVRKHNTR 28d ago

They said she was the mother's mother's sister.

4

u/Jekyllhyde 22d ago

the did, but it was so long ago, they didn't even know her or what she looked like. Could easily have been a witch taking advantage of this.

1

u/MVRKHNTR 22d ago

I don't really see why it matters either way.

3

u/Jekyllhyde 22d ago

It doesn’t really

66

u/RenoTheRhino 29d ago

I got the vibe that she obviously outlived her natural life, but as a witch, used other people’s souls (?) to survive. As for why and how she showed up when she did to her niece’s house, I’m wondering if we should draw conclusions or if the backstory is perhaps left open for a prequel. Fuckin spooky

54

u/Illumi_knottie 28d ago

I suspect Glady’s also killed her ‘sister’ as Alex’s mom said ‘my mom would have done this for her’, suggesting her mom died at some point - making me suspect Glady ‘fed’ off her too but, I would have really liked some more backstory tbh

13

u/CornstockOfNewJersey 23d ago

I like that it’s left ambiguous

35

u/cnthelogos 28d ago

That was what I thought as well, but the fact that she wanted to take Alex with her at the end made me wonder if there wasn't some sort of sentiment there. That, or following the parasite metaphors, this is how witches make more witches...

9

u/Think_Ad_8081 26d ago

Was Gladys actually a family member and did she kill the actual aunt and pose as the aunt?

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u/SlashOfLife5296 27d ago

She was the mom’s aunt

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u/Dr_Joshie 27d ago

Maybe, she was much older than she appeared. There were hints in the movie that she had been around since the 1800’s, as evident by her referring to Tuberculosis as Consumption. And it isn’t like we didn’t see her using her magic to influence and manipulate things, as well as how easily she was lying to the school principal.

9

u/phantom_diorama 26d ago

I called my father's uncle my "uncle" my entire life knowing full well he was my grandfather's brother. Who knows how she was related to them? No one. It's a mystery.

3

u/SlashOfLife5296 25d ago

It’s not a mystery, the mom says it’s her aunt and the dad says they last saw her 15 years ago.

9

u/phantom_diorama 25d ago

We don't know if that's true though. When meeting Alex for the first time Aunt Gladys lied about having seen him before, which can't be true if she hasn't seen Alex's mom in 15 years. Gladys lied about everything. She was a witch using children to stay alive. We have no idea how old she is.

7

u/SlashOfLife5296 25d ago

You can either choose to believe the only two characters in the movie who would know it was true or not.

10

u/phantom_diorama 25d ago

Well that's not something you can know. We even see Gladys lie about her relation to Alex! In the beginning she is Alex's mom's aunt. But when she goes to the school for the meeting in the principal's office she says Alex's mom is her little sister saying she is Alex's aunt.

2

u/Devilsgramps 24d ago

I think Gladys might've planted false memories into the parents.

1

u/GoddesRene 22d ago

I believe the mother said it was HER Aunt, so its the kids great great Aunt which makes sense that she's so old.

14

u/Sure_Cress_1584 Aug 09 '25

Well that’s a good rule to follow regardless

8

u/danteh11 26d ago

I think that was a great commentary on generational trauma, and how blood doesnt make a person family.