Weapons: Review and Analysis

A modern day fairy tale that leaves no room for real happy endings

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Sep 12, 2025

A movie that’s been haunting the back of my mind for months has been Weapons. The first teaser instantly had me hooked and deeply curious for what the film’s big bad would turn out to be. I must confess, I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to certain kinds of horror films. Specifically supernatural horror. I can’t explain it, but if a film is dealing with ghosts or demons, I simply can’t hack it. So, while I was deeply excited for Weapons, I was also deeply terrified it would be some sort of poltergeist or demonic entity. It became clear to me after some internet sleuthing and Reddit theorizing that the film was hinting towards some sort of witchy business, and this excited me even further. This review may be a bit longer than usual due to my enjoyment of the film and the wide thematic net it cast.

The opening of the film was possibly one of the best I’ve ever seen. Horror films tend to have these flashy, jumpscare-heavy openings–aiming to immediately unsettle their audience–however, this one eased the audience in. I discuss the scores of films often, and this one blew me away. George Harrison’s Beware of Darkness blared as we watched the children mysteriously flee from their homes, tearing off into the darkness. All the clips of the children running used in promotion had been framed through a more haunting and unsettling lens; however, the score made the children’s run almost beautiful. Watching them run off into the darkness, I could only wonder at the almost freeing mood it brought on, the music elevating it beyond a simple uneasy opening scene. It also established an odd sense of comfort. There was no jump scare lurking in these few moments where I thought there would be. This comfort instantly dissipated when the music faded and the film truly began.

Zach Cregger builds tension expertly throughout the film, mixing humor and fear with precision and intent. Often, I found myself gripping the seat, uncertain what was about to happen or when, but knowing something was coming. The narrative structure deviated from many modern horror films, but it worked very well for the film. The film takes on an almost whodunit nature, as we hop from character to character, getting more insight into what happened to the children but never landing on the exact details. Our villain, Gladys, lurks throughout the narrative, haunting dreams and slowly revealing herself to both the audience and characters.

We follow teacher Justine navigate life after her classroom disappeared. She is hounded by the teachers of the vanished students and hounded by her alcohol dependence, which has only seemed to worsen. She adamantly hunts for answers, following the sole remaining student, Alex, home and camping outside his house in her car. In one of the best scenes in the movie, Alex’s seemingly possessed mother wanders out of the house, walking in an odd and humorous manner, drawing laughs from the audience. The atmosphere instantly shifts when she wanders off-screen, and the sound of the car door opening echoes through the theater. It was as if the air had been knocked out of our lungs. The camera stays with Justine from the passenger seat of the car, and the quiet in the scene is unbearable. We all sat with bated breath as we waited for the invader to make her action, and when she reaches in and simply clips a lock of Justine’s hair off, we exhale, but this moment confirmed to me that some sort of witchcraft was afoot.

As the movie continues, we see from the perspective of Archer, the persistent father of a vanished student, who fervently works to uncover what has happened to his son. As he figures out that the students all went running in the same general direction, James, a homeless addict, flees the police and hunts for ways to make money. This inevitably leads him to the home of Alex, which has been virtually boarded up. We watch him fumble around the home, spot and ignore Alex’s catatonic parents, before inevitably stumbling upon the frozen children in the basement. He flees and reconnects with police officer Paul, the two returning to the home. Paul vanishes into the home before walking back out hours later, possessed, and drags James into the home. Even after gaining entry into the home and discovering the children, we, the audience, still know very little.

In the next chapter of the film, we are finally introduced to Gladys. A bright old woman with colorful hair, clothing, and makeup. She presents herself as Alex’s guardian and seems entirely harmless; however, her previous appearances in dream sequences alert us to otherwise. Our first understanding of her magic comes from her appearance at Principal Marcus’ home. There she utilises his personal belongings and the hair of his partner to sic Marcus upon him, before then using the stolen hair from Justine to send out Marcus again like a human attack dog.

Justine and Archer unite after the attack from Marcus, which ended fatally for him, and trace the children’s disappearance to, of course, Alex’s home.

The final chapter is perhaps the most captivating as we finally get a look behind the curtain and uncover Alex’s life. Alex lived a normal life with his parents until a distant (alleged) relative, Gladys, arrived. She enslaves his parents with her catatonic magic and instructs him to feed them and assist her, or else she will harm them. It becomes clear that Gladys is unwell and utilising the people under her command in some attempt to heal herself, which appears to be working momentarily before failing. She instructs Alex to bring her the personal items of his classmates, whom she then summons in the night. Alex is trapped in an unending nightmare.

He eventually frees himself from this in the film's bloody climax. Justine and Archer arrive and battle possessed James and Paul, killing them and then exploring the house for answers. Archer uncovers the children in the basement before being possessed by Gladys, who then sets him upon Justine. Alex crosses a salt line laid out by Gladys, causing his parents to chase after him in attack mode. Alex manages to get into Gladys’ items, utilising her wigs and her magic tools to send the children out to kill her. What then takes place is a horrifically hilarious chase scene where one old woman tears through suburbia chased by 20 young children, before eventually being caught and torn apart. It is a bloody and cathartic finale, with the old witch finally getting what she deserves.

It was a fantastic film which took full advantage of its cut-up narrative, revealing and hiding information in almost a game of cat-and-mouse with the viewer.

While I went into the film expecting a more explicit school shooting metaphor, the film ended up being a sort of modern fairy tale; however, it cannot escape the school shooting imagery it conjures. The visual of an entire classroom vanishing with one survivor remaining certainly conjures up the ongoing epidemic of school shootings. There is a dream sequence in particular showing the classroom with all the students’ heads down (they may not have been there, I can’t entirely remember), and Alex looking up and grinning with Gladys’ clown-esque makeup on. It can also be read into that the torment one student receives at home is then expanded and exacted onto his peers. Of course, Alex is an empathetic character, even shown taking extra care to properly feed his catatonic bully. While the visual imagery of a school shooting lurks, a giant machine gun even being manifested during one of Archer’s dreams, it doesn’t appear to be the main thematic element in this story.

The film instead seems to focus on generations. Gladys, an old and feeble witch, desperately clings to life by sucking the life force of the young. She feeds from the older adults (Alex’s parents) before switching to the children. This appears to be thematically relevant to an ongoing conversation, in the USA in particular, regarding ageing politicians utilising children in their culture war. Politicians weaponize children to further agendas, particularly those related to censorship, inevitably leaving a worsening world in exchange for short-term personal gain. Gladys appears to be the embodiment of this sentiment, as she utilizes the people around her like personal attack dogs and servants for the sole purpose of self-preservation.

Weapons also focuses on the community in the wake of devastation, meditating on the grief it manifests in parents, teachers, and other citizens. People cast blame and fearmonger, but the mystery is only solved when those differences are placed aside.

The fairy tale aspect is mesmerizing. Witches often seem to be an underutilized creature, particularly with films set in modern times, and Cregger uses them to the full extent. Gladys is often played for laughs, but she never stops being terrifying. The unravelling mystery adds to the fairy tale atmosphere, and the bittersweet ending, with its villain's brutal comeuppance, feels like it jumped out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Most movies would have shown the children instantly snapping out of it and the world returning to normal, but the monologue recalls that even a year later, only some children have begun to speak again. Alex’s parents are even institutionalized. What Gladys has done can never truly be undone, despite her death. There are no real happy endings.

Overall, I give the film 4/5 stars. While an excellent film, some parts of the second act dragged just a bit; however truly one of the best horror films of the year, certainly up there with Sinners for me. I would highly recommend this film to anyone!

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