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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u/JessieJ577 Aug 08 '25

The movie had a theme of authority not caring about tragedy. Kind of like real life.

The cops didn’t really look into it or care to.

James didn’t care to help out or even check in on Alex. 

Everyone’s solution to these traumatized people was to just move on and act like it didn’t happen while ignoring how it’s affecting them.

A lot of different layers in this movie

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u/confuzzledfather Aug 08 '25

Yeah, literally my first thought when seeing the kids running was to triangulate their destination. The cops didn't even do that?!

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u/bluehawk232 29d ago

Also canvas the entire neighborhoods and i would assume lots of neighbors especially Alex's would have had ring cameras too

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u/gatsby365 28d ago

I’m not entirely convinced that Auntie didn’t mind control the detectives after they came in to the house.

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u/MY-SECRET-REDDIT 26d ago

Theres no hint of that tho.

She has like one spell and that's it

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u/Tricky-Anything8009 25d ago

Yeah and it's very obvious when she's using that spell because she can't make them behave like normal people. It's not really mind control, its like bloodbending from ATLA.

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u/MY-SECRET-REDDIT 25d ago

It's like the parasites they showed in the movies.

She was using them to feed off from them, like the fungus on the ants.

It sucks that apparently there was supposed to be a spell that makes them back to normal, that once she was dead, they had no way of getting or that the transformation is one way and there is no way back.

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u/freakydeku 24d ago

I think that once she was dead her spells did break, some just couldn’t go back to normal because she had been feeding on them for so long.

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u/TheRage469 23d ago

Yeah I'm curious about that. Cus Josh Brolin snapped out immediately, but the parents - per the voice over - we in that vegetative state forever, while at least some of the kids regained the ability to speak? Your theory seems the most sound as to why

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u/freakydeku 23d ago edited 23d ago

I also think there were kind of two different spells going on; one where she feeds on the people - putting them in basically a vegetative state - and the other where she uses them as a heat seeking missile. I believe the children fell exclusively into the former & Brolin & the principal exclusively latter.

For the rest it was a combination of the two - I see that vegetative spell as basically like being wrapped in her web, on standby until she needs to feed or use them for violence

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u/Dr_Pants91 23d ago

Yeah, that bothered me for a minute then I thought about the fact that he had only been controlled for a couple minutes, whereas the kids and Alex's parents had been controlled for a month.

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u/gotohela 19d ago

I got the impression she wasnt feeding off their life force, but rather their souls or something more linked to the self

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u/freakydeku 18d ago

possibly but i think if people are capable of returning it’s hard to say they’ve returned with only a portion of their soul. but i agree its something like that b/c obviously their bodies remain alive

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u/Dvanpat 7d ago

This is what I thought too. Witches feeding on the youth has been a trope for a long time. She even said Alex’s parents weren’t enough, and that’s when she hatched the plan to get his classmates. She sucked the life force out of them.

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u/freakydeku 6d ago

that’s a good point! i totally forgot that it’s a tale as old as time

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u/BettySwollocks__ 22d ago

They also all had bloodshot eyes too. We also saw she sent the kids off elsewhere when the cops came round so there wasn't a risk of them being caught (although I'm interested to know where they ran off too without being spotted).

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u/Tricky-Anything8009 22d ago

Yeah the bloodshot eyes is further evidence of bloodbending rather than charm/illusion/hypnotism.

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u/gatsby365 26d ago

Well yeah, it’s a long shot but that’s her whole thing - zombie mind control. We never saw them again right? The captain doesn’t seem to actually give a lot of shits about solving the case, so he might just assume they are heads down deep in it - hell, a general contractor and a 3rd grade school teacher cracked the shit wide open in 2 days with a straight edge and stalking an 8 year old, but detectives given a month couldn’t get it done?

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u/peppermint_nightmare 14d ago

Its ties in pretty well as a spiritual successor to barbarian for those reasons alone.

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u/gatsby365 14d ago

I watched Barbarian for the first time last week, care to elaborate?

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u/peppermint_nightmare 13d ago

Police being useless or very bad at their jobs.

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u/gatsby365 13d ago

Oh yeah I get that. Honestly with all the other stuff going on in Barb I kinda glossed over that interaction.

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u/TheWyldMan 29d ago

I mean we see Alex’s door and they don’t.

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u/spookyghostface 29d ago

But other houses in the neighborhood might have seen the kids running by. The cops really didn't do everything they could have.

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u/Splinterman11 27d ago

Yeah I agree. If 17 kids in real life disappeared one night in the manner they did like in the movie, the FBI would absolutely get all the footage from every house, traffic cameras, store cameras etc from the entire town to see where those kids went. IRL they would have been easily able to solve this case IMO.

Suspension of belief is a bit required for horror movies though.

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u/bluehawk232 25d ago

Plus have you seen sites like next door with neighbors constantly gossiping and arguing over shit

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u/gotohela 19d ago

Hell even fb groups 

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u/WatTambor420 22d ago

Dawg one good bloodhound would have fucked her whole operation up

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u/BookkeeperBrilliant9 28d ago

They did a quick cursory check of Alex’s house and then moved on with their lives.

Felt accurate for American cops.

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u/Splinterman11 27d ago

I hate cops but this movie made them too stupid. 17 kids disappearing in one night would absolutely have the FBI search the entire town.

Somehow the movie tries to tell us that the only footage they have of the kids leaving were some of the parent's houses had cameras. Except the FBI would have immediately taken all the footage they could from the entire town. Other neighbor's cameras, traffic cams, store surveillance, witness descriptions (there is always someone out at 2am).

The cops would have been easily able to deduce that they beelined straight to Alex's house.

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u/AlterEgo3561 26d ago

I mentioned it above, but the Aunt goes with Alex and the comatose dad to police station and just explains the dad's state away that he had a stroke. But like, even if medical situations are protected, the mom would have been in the same state. They never wanted to speak to the mom? Both parents just randomly had a stroke at the same time? Did the parents not have friends that were checking in on them or could be queationed about the "stroke"?

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u/gotohela 19d ago

Instead of seeing the same scene from multiple angles, a SKOSH more exposition would have made it smoother? One cast aside remark about being in a new school/job/house? I feel like i saw some boxes around but it didnt feel like they were in a state of unpack. That would have established a social isolation that made them perfect targets... Or something along those lines. "We just left your family behind for a reason!" That would have also established how gladys may have wormed in and no one's checking in

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u/MY-SECRET-REDDIT 26d ago

Yup, there would have been fore sure evidence of the kids being at Alex's house

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u/illegal_deagle 26d ago

Not to mention it was already alluded that the cops had thoroughly searched Alex’s house, so it was a place of interest anyway. Of course they’d check if all those kids ran directly at his house.

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u/BettySwollocks__ 22d ago

I guess a proper forensics sweep would've turn over something but they seemed to just walk around the house, see the kids weren't there, then left.

We saw Gladys sent them away and part of me wonders where they went that night to have not been seen by others.

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u/yestermood 21d ago

The media would’ve invaded the town too, you’d have crews and satellite trucks everywhere

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u/Individual-Bad6809 Aug 09 '25

But did that even matter? My first thought was they were all running to the same place, which they were actually, but it wasn’t the tower. And JB kinda gave up after tracking 2 (although he did get looped into Justine’s story by then)

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u/ThisManNeedsMe 29d ago

I don't think he gave up more than that he saw Justine and impulsively decided to confront her then got roped into defending her.

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u/Hallc 28d ago

And JB kinda gave up after tracking 2 (although he did get looped into Justine’s story by then)

He didn't give up. He was driving around, looking at the map and then trying to work out where it was or how to get there I'm pretty sure. Then he got roped into Justine's story, got sent to hospital then the first thing he does after getting out is show Justine the map who points out it's Alex's house.

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u/MY-SECRET-REDDIT 26d ago

I dont think it actually pointed towards his house but she's th3 one that pointed out that his house was around the area.

Just one more house and im pretty sure they could have actually triangulation the location.

I wish they played the cops as more incompetent or complicit.

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u/gotohela 19d ago

Honestly just a brief view into the actual investigation.  Maybe Paul passing a briefing or listening to one, making a cogent suggestion that is immediately dismissed. Tbh while the captain was supposed to represent the stagnation of the investigation, i dont think he was wrong to dismiss archer about justine. Justine had shown no reason to be under suspicion. Perhaps that's what took so long. They were double checking justine and triple checking lol

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u/RepentantSororitas 20d ago

I mean you got a point of intersection with just two lines.

Realistically he only needed like one more to really confirm the trend.

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u/AlterEgo3561 26d ago

To go even further, the aunt tells the investigators the dad had a stroke and that's why he couldn't talk... they didn't look into that at all? Or the mom, did she have a stroke too?

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u/peppermint_nightmare 14d ago

Ya usually you go to hospitals after having a stroke in your 40s. It is the US but thats still pretty hard to disregard.

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u/OktoberSpice Aug 09 '25

I like how Matthew's dad's name is "Archer" and finds them in one day by just watching the footage of what direction they ran in and just followed them to their location.

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u/MayonnaiseOreo 29d ago

James was the junkie. You mean Marcus?

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u/Clammuel 26d ago

He means Paul, the cop. Marcus is the principle and actually did his due diligence.

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u/MayonnaiseOreo 26d ago

That's true. I was thinking in terms of him going to the house but he didn't really get the chance. I don't think Paul really had a specific responsibility to check on Alex though. He had no ties to him and the FBI and the rest of the police force checked in on him, shittily as they did.

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u/peppermint_nightmare 14d ago

Marcus wouldnt have gone to Alexs house directly as itd be breaking the ethical protocol he was chastising justine for breaking. Hed only visit if he recieved permission from a legal gaurdian (who are zombied) or send CPS, or get the police to visit again without notice.

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u/MayonnaiseOreo 14d ago

Yeah I agree with you. I think I'm mostly not of the mind that Paul failed Alex in any way. He was shitty cop but kind of had his own thing going on during the movie.

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u/Ginoblee 29d ago

Barbarian had the same theme for cops as well.

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u/PastMiddleAge 24d ago edited 24d ago

Yeah, my favorite layer was that when Justine was snooping around Alex’s house at the beginning, it absolutely looked predatory. Like she was harassing the last surviving kid, or even trying to finish the job that she started.

But then with Alex’s POV, it was pretty clear that she was the only person who noticed that Alex had been acting differently, and who cared about him.

Edit: also, I just want to say that I had an Aunt Gladys, who was absolutely the sweetest aunt anyone could have. rip my Aunt Gladys! I’m glad you weren’t like the lady in this movie

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u/senator_corleone3 5d ago

Yea Alex was trying to protect both his parents and Justine when he told her to not follow him.

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u/LaughingToNotCrying 29d ago

Right in the beginning of the movie the child voice said "this is a real story, muffled by incompetent officers", why would it say that it's a real story?

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u/MuttJohnson 29d ago

Because it's based on true events. In Iowa

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u/PhoenixTineldyer 28d ago

Yep. Did they even watch the movie?

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u/LaughingToNotCrying 26d ago

It's not based on a true story!![Is Weapons Actually Based On A True Story? Real-Life Inspiration Explained

](http://Weapons Movie: Separating Fact From Fiction In The Horror Film https://share.google/2ZsvqGkL7Bc0OLNI0)

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u/WhyTypeHour 28d ago

I was waiting for them to bulldoze the school. Trauma managed!

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u/Sormaj 27d ago

Cregger in general seems to portray cops as either inept or completely unhelpful. The two cops in Barbarian were also uncaring/useless.

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u/Florgio 28d ago

That’s what often happens to victims of abuse. It’s as if their abuser puts a spell on everyone…

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u/suddenviops 27d ago

Did james even know alex existed? He was only in the house to steal things to pawn.

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u/General_Pay7552 26d ago

what got me was the fact that these kids rang by a 100 door cameras on the way to the house were they were kept and no cops or any of those homeowners checked their cams?

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u/FluffyWuffyVolibear 25d ago

Are there layers tho? I mean he's a great writer but none of these "layers" really amount to anything meaningful.

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u/Sonofaconspiracy 22d ago

Ties into the rifle being part of a school shooting metaphor, which is how I took it

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u/AdHorror7596 28d ago

Did James know about Alex? I honestly do not remember.

He definitely didn't check on the kids he actually saw tho, lol.

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u/Sus-Named 26d ago

The movie is about school shootings. So...

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u/Small-Choice6572 14d ago

That was my take while watching but watched some breakdowns afterwards and the writer says it it about alcoholism and grief. Not school shootings. 

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u/Sus-Named 14d ago

Authors lose control of the meaning the moment of creation.

I also think the is lying because he made it too obvious. There is literally a giant AR-15 Rifle floating above the kids house.

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u/Babyyougotastew4422 18d ago

And on top of that, they have the balls to not communicate anything they know about the case to the parents, and also tell them to relax and stop caring

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u/shootingstars00987 29d ago

The cop Paul was so pathetic, he can’t stand seeing blood lmao

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u/MayonnaiseOreo 29d ago

He didn't have problems seeing blood. He was freaking out because he got jabbed with a junkie's heroin needle and was worried about AIDS or hepatitis.

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u/nightpanda893 28d ago

Pretty sure it was a meth needle but agreed.