Weapons (2025)
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A teacher and a father must navigate a terrifying mystery when seventeen children from a single classroom vanish on the same night.
The story
On a Wednesday night in Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen children from Justine Gandy's third-grade class vanish simultaneously, leaving only one child, Alex Lilly, behind. Justine, a teacher accused of involvement in the disappearances, is placed on administrative leave while facing scrutiny from the children's parents, including the suspicious Archer Graff. As Justine struggles with her personal life and Archer begins his own investigation, both become haunted by nightmares of the missing children and a mysterious elderly woman. The investigation leads them toward a chilling realization about the children's paths and the mysterious forces at play in the town.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After seventeen children from Justine Gandy's class vanish in Maybrook, Pennsylvania, Justine is accused of involvement and placed on leave. She becomes haunted by nightmares of the children and a mysterious woman, while Archer Graff, a suspicious father, begins his own investigation. They eventually discover the children's paths converged on the home of Alex Lilly. It is revealed that Alex's mother invited a witch named Gladys into their home. Gladys used a ritual to bewitch the parents and used Alex to gather items from his classmates to summon them to the house, where they were kept in a basement to feed off their energy. When Archer and Justine arrive, they are attacked by the bewitched officer Paul and a burglar named James. Justine shoots both to death. Archer is then ambushed and bewitched by Gladys, but Alex breaks a totem to target her with her own spell. The children, granted inhuman strength, storm out and tear Gladys's head in half. The spell breaks, leaving most victims catatonic except for Archer. The story concludes with the revelation that Alex moved away and the other children eventually returned home.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 128
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Zach Cregger
- Writers
- Zach Cregger · writer
- Cast and characters
- Josh Brolin · Archer Graff; Julia Garner · Justine Gandy; Alden Ehrenreich · Paul Morgan; Austin Abrams · James; Cary Christopher · Alex Lilly; Benedict Wong · Marcus Miller; Amy Madigan · Aunt Gladys
- Genres
- supernatural mystery horror
- Themes
- parental grief; community paranoia
- Tone and mood
- tense; darkly comic; eerie
- Setting
- Maybrook, Pennsylvania
- Premise and plot tags
- supernatural; mystery; horror; witchcraft; missing children
- Source material / true-story basis
- original screenplay
- Content notes
- alcoholism
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 81 · scale: 100 · review count: 48; PostTrak · score: 4 · scale: 5
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Supporting Actress · win; Actor Award (SAG Award) · Best Supporting Actress · win; Critics' Choice Award · Best Supporting Actress · win; Golden Globe Award · Best Supporting Actress · nomination; Golden Globe Award · Cinematic and Box Office Achievement · nomination; Academy Award · Best Casting · shortlisted
- Production trivia
- The film's release time of 2:17 p.m. was a reference to the 2:17 a.m. plot point.; The production involved 170 children on the busiest filming days.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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