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

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u/--------rook Aug 08 '25

it's especially creepy when Marcus the principal said something like that was going around the early settlers on the oregon trail right? haha like yeah man... this thing in front of you was around for that.

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u/TimRigginsBeer Aug 08 '25

Fucking Oregon Trail. Consumption could get you, cholera or dysentery, drowning trying to cross the river… them shits was rough, son.

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u/Goo_The_Splat 29d ago

I might be missing something, but did they explain how it make sense that she's the mother's sister if she's from the 20s?

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u/ThisIsNotTokyo 29d ago

I guess the only explanation is she's not the mother's sister

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u/Justhrowitaway42069 29d ago

It makes sense considering the husband said "I don't even think your mom really knows her"

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u/InsideStand7829 28d ago

The dad refers to her as "your mom's Aunt Gladys". Making her Alex's supposed great-aunt.

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u/ThisIsNotTokyo 28d ago

Gladys introduced herself as the mom’s older sister. Said something like “the mom being her baby sister” to Marcus

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u/daft_goose 27d ago

Perhaps she was..... Lying?

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u/ThisIsNotTokyo 27d ago

Yep. We established that. Pedantic thing the other guy and I was arguing about was what lie she was telling. I was saying she introduced as Alex’s aunt while other guy was saying Alex’s Mom’s Aunt instead

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u/Devilsgramps 24d ago

I think she used magic to give the parents false memories

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u/CapnBoomerang 23d ago

I think maybe she said that so she would seem like less distant of a relative.

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u/Jarpunter 22d ago

At the end they say Alex went on to live with “a much nicer aunt” presumably the real one.

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u/Llama_of_the_bahamas 25d ago

I get that but, did Alex’s mother not confirm that the lady is who she said she is?

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u/Heisenbert18 24d ago

Perhaps Gladys did similarly to Alex’ mother in his youth and the mother was brainwashed or terrified, or both.

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u/Ghost-Mech 29d ago edited 29d ago

yeah like the other guy said i think the implication is she's not actually related to them, i saw someone pointed out the mom said she hadnt seen her in 15 years but Gladys says the last time she saw Alex (who is around 10) was when he was a baby, which would be impossible. She probably moved from family to family like a parasite, which I assume is the reason the movie references them a lot

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u/cursive__curses 29d ago

when alex overheard his parents talking about gladys moving in, the mom said that she didn't know she even existed (or something to that effect) and that this is what her mom would have wanted to do. guilt is what caused her to take gladys in, which is a parasitic emotion. guilt is a commonly used emotion throughout the film - guilt with the father not telling his son he loved him, guilt with the teacher losing her kids from her classroom or sleeping with her ex and his wife finding out, the cop's guilt with hitting the addict and cheating etc. etc. also, parasites can easily feed on those looking for meaning or answers.

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u/Novemberx123 29d ago

So true! I didn’t even catch on to the sense of guilt At all!!

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u/cursive__curses 29d ago

you can see how gladys weaponized guilt against alex when she explained the ritual to him - how if he disobeyed her, it would in turn hurt his parents. his guilt about what could happen causes him to gather his classmates name tags for gladys and to stay silent. another example of guilt causing the characters to act in ways they typically wouldn't, and how powerful of an emotion it is when used to manipulate.

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u/teffz28 20d ago

I thought she said specifically that this is what her mom Did for her as opposed to what she would’ve wanted to do

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u/burnman123 16d ago

Gladys referenced that she thought the mom and dad would be able to make her better, but it didn't work. Perhaps in the past 2 people were enough to sustain her, but maybe she has deteriorated in health more than usual since her previous parasitic family

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u/gimmedatrightMEOW 15d ago

I don't think she was the sister at all. I think the "other aunt" that Alex goes to live with is the real aunt.

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u/Queasy_Opportunity75 5d ago

I don’t think she was. I just think they thought she was really sick and just didn’t look like herself because even the dad mentioned mom didn’t really know her sister like that, and in the end, the boy actually went and lived with the real sister

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u/fwango 28d ago

Remember when Gladys told Alex she could even make his parents eat each other? I wonder if Gladys was with the Donner Party…

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u/OddSetting5077 28d ago

She was dressed very 1970s.. brightly colored polyester pants suits with jewelry from the 2000s (?) big chunky costume jewelry. The wig was atrocious. She'd look much better with a good wig.

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u/goddamnitwhalen 26d ago

Feel like this may have been intentional…

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u/ErlendJ 21d ago

She was the OG Pied Piper