Weapons Entire Storyline Explained (In Proper Order)

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Warning – MAJOR Spoilers for Weapons Below!

In Zach Cregger’s second horror success titled “Weapons“, the storyline deviates from a traditional sequence but remains coherent enough to be understood in its correct order. The plot revolves around the serene town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, where residents are baffled when they discover that 17 children have mysteriously vanished during the night without any clue about their destination. Interestingly, all these missing children were from the same fifth-grade class at Maybrook’s elementary school, which puts their teacher, Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), under intense scrutiny by the entire town. Concurrently, Justine delves into investigating what happened to the vanished kids, while one of the missing children’s parents, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), also initiates his own search.

In contrast to Zach Cregger’s earlier horror film, “Babarian” (2022), the chilling narrative of “Weapons” presents a unique perspective, weaving together various characters such as Justine, Archer, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), who was the sole student from Justine’s class not to vanish. Unlike a straightforward storyline, “Weapons” adopts multiple character viewpoints, resulting in a narrative that jumps between timelines. Events and character arcs intertwine and intersect, creating an intricate tapestry of the film’s events. To fully understand the sequence of events in “Weapons,” the following is a chronological account of the entire story as it unfolds.

Gladys the Witch Arrives in Town

The narrative of “Weapons” unfolds with the arrival of Alex’s supposed aunt, Gladys (played by Amy Madigan). Despite her friendly welcome and claiming she hasn’t seen Alex since he was a baby, Alex feels uneasy and suspicious. This is due to his parents appearing catatonic during dinner, repeating questions about Alex’s day in an automated manner. Curious about the strange situation, Alex presses for answers, but Gladys scolds him by sending him to his room without supper.

The following day, Alex wakes up to discover his parents unresponsive at the table along with Gladys. Presenting herself as a harsh enchantress, Gladys warns Alex not to disclose her existence or his parents’ condition, referring to them as “resting.” To emphasize the gravity of her warning, she displays her magical powers by making Alex’s parents repeatedly jab themselves in the face with their forks. Once he understands the severity of her threat, Gladys releases his parents from harm and sends him off to school.

Gladys Casts Her Spell (& Forces Alex To Help Her)

For the following weeks, Alex is assigned by Gladys the duty of providing chicken noodle soup to his comatose parents. One evening, Alex discovers a very weak Gladys in her room, implying that the elderly Gladys has been surviving by drawing power from Alex’s parents using her witchcraft. However, their combined vitality is not enough for the fragile Gladys, who instructs Alex to obtain an item from every classmate at school. She promises him that this will improve her condition and she will depart, returning home.

In the spirit of a movie critic,

The following day, I, being the cunning Alex, secretly pilfered the name tags from each of my classmates’ cubbies at school and whisked them home. Armed with an object belonging to every one of my 17 classmates, the enigmatic Gladys conjured up a psychic summoning, beckoning us all to her lair – the Lilly household – where we, the unsuspecting kids, raced through the night towards Alex’s residence.

Once we arrived, Gladys cast her mystical spell upon each of us, trapping us all in the gloomy basement. I, being the accomplice, continued to feed my classmates and parents homemade chicken noodle soup, keeping them alive in this peculiar predicament.

The Town Unravels After the Children Vanish

After 17 children mysteriously vanished from Maybrook, Pennsylvania in one night, the town is plunged into fear and suspicion. The police’s investigation reveals that all the missing children had left their homes at 2:17 AM, either triggering home alarm systems or being caught on surveillance cameras as they fled. With Alex as the only child present in Justine Gandy’s classroom the following day, the focus of the investigation quickly shifts to them both. However, cunning Gladys manages to twist the situation to her advantage by pretending to be a caretaker for Alex’s father, who she claims suffered a stroke, and temporarily moving the kids from the basement during the police search of the Lilly residence, resulting in their visit finding nothing out of the ordinary.

After the children’s disappearance, Justine, despite no evidence implicating her, was viewed as a suspect by many in town, especially the parents. A heated town meeting at the school resulted in Justine being ousted and placed on leave by Principal Marcus Miller. Marcus suggested that Justine keep a low profile due to public suspicion. Despite her insistence of wanting to find the children just as much as their parents, she faced ostracism from the community.

Archer & Justine’s Stories After the Town Hall Meeting

After an intense town meeting, Justine finds herself having a tipsy tryst with her former beau, police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), which provokes the wrath of his wife Donna (June Diane Raphael), who attacks Justine the day after. Simultaneously, Justine embarks on an individual investigation into the perplexing disappearances, stopping by the Lilly household where she discovers all the windows are concealed with newspapers except for a space revealing Alex’s parents in a catatonic state, huddled in the shadows.

In the meantime, Archer is haunted by dreams about his son’s vanishing and suspects Justine, leading him to track her down from a town hall gathering and deface her car with “Witch.” Reviewing security camera footage of some children fleeing, he traces their path to an approximate location within the neighborhood. As he proceeds to delve deeper, he spots Justine at a gas station and decides to confront her, but instead, they are ambushed by Marcus under mind control.

Marcus had earlier refused to talk to Alex’s parents with Gladys during a workplace meeting. Later, Gladys visits Marcus at home and performs a ritual to make him want to harm his husband Terry (Clayton Farris). Afterwards, using a lock of Justine’s hair that she obtained by getting Alex’s mind-controlled mother to cut it while Justine was sleeping in her car near the Lilly house during her investigation, Gladys manipulates Marcus to go after Justine. In the end, Justine manages to escape with her car, and Marcus continues to chase her. Archer pursues in his truck, and during the chase, Marcus is hit by a car and dies. Realizing that Justine wasn’t involved in the kidnapping, Archer shares a map of where he thinks the children might be found with Justine, who identifies one house within Archer’s estimated area as belonging to the Lilly family.

Paul & James’ Intersecting Stories in Weapons

At the same time as Archer and Justine’s tales unfold, Paul finds himself unwillingly embroiled in Gladys’ plot when he encounters local drug addict James (Austin Abrams), who is attempting to burglarize a building for quick cash. During his search of James, Paul accidentally pricks his finger on one of the addict’s syringes and, infuriated, strikes James unconscious. Concerned about possible HIV infection from the needle prick, Paul takes him to tend to his wound and, upon discovering that his police cruiser’s dash cam captured the altercation, negotiates with James for his release under the condition that he avoid a particular section of Maybrook in the future. Ed Locke, Paul’s police captain father-in-law, also consents to cover up the assault, confident that the dash cam footage will be erased within a month.

Simultaneously, James persists in stealing items to fund his drug habit, ultimately burglarizing the Lilly home. Inside the house, he encounters Alex’s frozen parents and uncovers the children, trapped in a frozen, mind-controlled state in the basement. Fleeing the scene, he later sells some pilfered silverware at a local pawn shop. There, he notices a sign advertising a $50,000 reward for information on 17 missing kids, prompting him to call in with his discovery. Regrettably, as James goes to the Maybrook police station to report this, Paul recognizes him and pursues. Catching up to James in the woods, Paul apprehends him in his tent, with James disclosing the location of the children. Subsequently, Paul transports James to the Lilly residence, only to subsequently fall under Gladys’ mind-control spell himself inside the house. Over several hours, he emerges as another of her mind-controlled zombies, leading James into the house to be placed under her control as well.

The Climax in the Lilly Household

Upon reaching the Lilly residence for an investigation, Gladys has secretly initiated her plan. She instructed Alex to prepare for their exit tomorrow, and strategically lays down salt lines throughout the living room and in front of her bedroom. Her parents, influenced by Alex’s mind control, along with Paul and James are stationed as guards. When Archer and Justine enter the house, a salt line causes Paul and James to aggressively assault them. In the ensuing chaos, Justine grabs Paul’s gun and fires, killing both of them, while Archer ventures into the basement. Unfortunately, his encounter with Gladys results in her casting a spell on him, compelling him to attack Justine instead.

As Alex crosses Salt’s boundary line outside Gladys’ room, his parents angrily chase after him. However, Alex seizes Gladys’ magical artifacts and a lock of her hair, using them to conduct a mind-control ritual identical to the one he had performed earlier. This results in the 17 children confined in the basement targeting Gladys, who instantly senses Alex’s actions. Alarmed, Gladys rushes out of the Lilly residence, with the 17 children hot on her heels. They break through windows and gates as they pursue her throughout the neighborhood until they catch up to Gladys, brutally tearing her apart in panic.

Gladys’ demise releases 17 children, along with Archer and Alex’s parents, from her influence. Upon finding the kids gathered around Gladys’ body, Archer takes his son Matthew (Luke Speakman) home. Despite escaping the witch’s control, the spell’s impact leaves Alex’s parents and the children in a trance-like state. In contrast, Archer recovers full consciousness and physical control. Subsequently, Alex’s parents are admitted to a psychiatric hospital, with Alex moving in with his true aunt. The child narrator hints that some of the 17 abducted children eventually regained speech, but it’s unclear if everyone will completely break free from the lingering effects of Gladys’ two-month control as depicted in “Weapons.

Weapons is now playing in theaters.

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2025-08-13 19:55