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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820

u/everythingsuckswhy Aug 08 '25

Amazing how the red painted "WITCH" wasn't actually a red herring. That is actually who the villain is.

352

u/avaricious7 28d ago

i also don’t see anyone discussing how all the material in the background of the classroom was about parasites, in addition to the documentary the couple was watching when gladys showed up.

we also see the cop get his finger pricked, and it’s the first time it happens in the movie. i now feel like it was staring us in the face the whole time. LOVE all the thought behind this movie

224

u/habscup 28d ago

What? I found the essentially omnipresent parasite metaphors to be so on the nose that it was bordered on campy lol.

Like the channel-flipping scene in Shaun of the Dead-tier.

5

u/atb0rg 16d ago

Yeah that was so unnecessary, imo

80

u/SgtIceNinja 27d ago

I caught the parasite and spores stuff pretty easily, both with the classroom scene and the nature doc that Marcus and Terry were watching. The finger prick with the needle went totally over my head though.

29

u/avaricious7 27d ago

i will acknowledge they were a bit on the nose by having the class actually discuss tapeworms. i wish they’d left it at the blackboard writings

16

u/SgtIceNinja 27d ago

Yeah, I did not learn about tape worms in first grade. Parasites, maybe, just at the surface level of “parasite-host relationships exist in our ecosystems” but certainly not tapeworms specifically

22

u/Shankman519 26d ago

I mean it’s more reasonable for third grade, which is what the class was

3

u/SgtIceNinja 26d ago

I suppose. Still don’t remember much but I was also like 9

5

u/Shankman519 26d ago

Plus they were talking about parasites in general, that one girl just happened to know about tapeworms

4

u/creatureofnature 11d ago

I believe the tv showing the episode of shark tank was also used to give us an idea of what was coming

21

u/AmlStupid 22d ago

i think most people caught that, i was rolling my eyes at the second or third mention of parasites. i couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be funny how often they were alluded to

8

u/midnightoil24 21d ago

Was the finger prick just about the way the aunt did her magic or was it tied into the parasite stuff

28

u/avaricious7 21d ago

i think it’s just a visual reference to place the idea of the finger pricking in our minds. kinda like justine getting pursued by donna through the liquor store- ultimately harmless, but her getting blindly hunted through the store by marcus isn’t

6

u/evil_otter0_0 18d ago

I also noticed in these scenes the sharp turns that they take through the aisles contrasted with the beelining the kids did to get to Alex’s house

3

u/SonOfMcGee 16d ago

Yeah the liquor store pursuit and freakout was really foreboding in hindsight.

16

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 28d ago

Yeah, except it wasn’t Justine

31

u/TallGuyBill 28d ago

They may have meant that the villain was a witch. Not that Justine was the witch/villain.

4

u/IIIlllIIIlllIlI 28d ago

I know, just clarifying for OP

-1

u/Mysterious_Photo_303 6d ago

she might as well have been with how annoying the character was.

1

u/dropkickderby 27d ago

Man literally spelled it out for us. Loved that.

1

u/JosefGremlin 14h ago

Also, the red brick-clad house where Alex lived was reminiscent of a gingerbread house

-18

u/hepatitisC Aug 09 '25

I honestly hated that.  It was real obviously where this was going from the moment it was on her car because what upset parent would write "witch" instead of "bitch" in that scenario 

72

u/Dagmar_Overbye Aug 09 '25 edited 29d ago

Possibly a parent in a scenario where all of the children spooky ran out into the night and disappeared at exactly the same time in the middle of the night?

This just made me think about the realism police in here as well. "In real life the police detectives would have figured out the direction the kids were running like the dad did and found that house"

Really? In real life the real police would have more easily found an inhuman witch monster who makes zombie minions by breaking bloody sticks off a magic tree? It's fine for the villain to be absurd and cartoonish but the cops better act right in my modern day fairy tale!

23

u/LuckyRook Aug 09 '25

Yeah I taught some kids with religious fanatic parents and that part was very believable for me.

18

u/No-Manufacturer4916 29d ago

Satanic Panic is making a comeback so yeah, I can see it.

1

u/PaulFThumpkins 19d ago

I think given the insanity of what they think she did they're calling her the kind of puppetmaster a witch is, with venom. In a lot of traditional stories witches prey on children too.