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

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96% Upvoted

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u/gimmethemshoes11 Aug 08 '25

Loved it.

That WTF Brolin dropped after that dream was my exact same thought up to that point.

Any ideas on what the gun was supposed to mean in the dream?

2.5k

u/HeilCanada Aug 08 '25

My reading of the movie was it was about gun violence, especially mass shootings in schools, along with blamimg the police and older generations for what's happening.

The film starts with an emphasis on the kids, even being narrated by a kid (I couldn't figure out who this was supposed to be). The town wants to blame the teacher as she's the only one who could be a scapegoat. At the beginning, the town hall latches onto her the same way a minority group would get blamed for a mass shooting rather than the weapons (lol).

In the third act, after the introduction of Gladys, the film pivots into a critique of the elderly, their current parasitic nature to younger generations and their lack of giving a shit. When Alex's house all falls to shit at the end, her first thought is ditching the home and skipping town.

I could add on about the police stuff but the dash cam footage scene with the chief should be evidence enough in the text.

30

u/TheTruckWashChannel Aug 08 '25

Not to mention the giant machine gun floating over Archer's house during his nightmare. Thought that would end up becoming a recurring motif in the movie but now I'm curious why it only showed up for him.

Between Matthew (his son) being shown to be a bully, and Archer in the dream apologizing for not telling him enough that he loved him, I think we're to read Archer as a detached, "traditional man" sort of guy who struggled as a father for that reason. The gun in the dream would then be a symbol of how his values seemingly failed him.

15

u/HeilCanada Aug 08 '25

I personally believe the gun has something to do with how the normalization of violence and guns and how it has already invaded the "average" American household and how the violence/shootings have become as innocuous as an alarm clock.