Weapons (2025 film)

Weapons is a 2025 American mystery horror film directed, written, produced, and co-scored by Zach Cregger. It stars an ensemble cast including Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan. Its plot follows the case of seventeen children from the same classroom who mysteriously run away on the same night at the same time.

After the critical and commercial success of his film Barbarian (2022), Cregger began working on the spec script for Weapons. It prompted a bidding war between several studios, with New Line Cinema emerging as the victor. The 2023 Hollywood labor disputes disrupted casting. It initially ran from May to July 2023 before several actors dropped out due to conflicts. Casting resumed in February 2024 and ended in May of that year. Filming then began in Atlanta, concluding in July.

Weapons was released in theaters in the United States on August 8, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received positive reviews, and was a box office success, grossing $270 million against a $38 million budget. Madigan's performance was singled out for praise, and she received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and won the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress. The New York Film Critics Circle awarded her its Best Supporting Actress prize.

Plot

One night at 2:17 AM in the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen children from teacher Justine Gandy's third-grade classroom run out of their homes and disappear. Only one student, Alex Lilly, remains. Justine is placed on leave amid suspicion that she is responsible for their disappearance. Archer Graff, the father of Matthew (one of the missing children), is particularly suspicious.

Justine relapses into alcoholism and has a one-night stand with her married ex-boyfriend, police officer Paul Morgan. Concerned for Alex's welfare, Justine follows him home, discovering the windows of his house covered with newspaper and his parents sitting motionless inside. Justine stakes out Alex's house from her car, but falls asleep by nighttime. Alex's mother exits her home in a trance, enters Justine's car and cuts a lock of Justine's hair while she sleeps.

Archer grows frustrated with the police and starts his own investigation. Reviewing smart doorbell footage of Matthew and another child, he notices that their running paths converge to an unknown destination. Both Justine and Archer have nightmares about the missing children and a mysterious elderly woman.

While on patrol, Paul stops James, a homeless drug addict, from committing a burglary. While frisking James, Paul is pricked by one of his needles. Paul strikes James in anger, knocking him out. When Paul realizes his car's dashcam caught the incident, he releases James to avoid retaliation.

James burgles Alex's house and accidentally discovers the missing children in the basement. He goes to the police station to report his findings and collect the $50,000 reward, but Paul spots and chases him. While fleeing through the woods, James notices the mysterious woman. When Paul catches him, James claims to know about the children's whereabouts. The pair arrive at Alex's house, where Paul enters to investigate, leaving James handcuffed in his car. Hours later, Paul comes out and, in a frenzy, drags James inside.

After Justine implores principal Marcus Miller to check on Alex, the mysterious woman arrives at the school and introduces herself as Alex's aunt Gladys. She claims that she is helping care for Alex's family after his parents fell ill. When Marcus insists on performing a wellness check the following day, Gladys unexpectedly arrives at Marcus's home. She cuts off a lock of hair from Marcus's husband, Terry, and performs a bewitchment ritual on Marcus, who murders Terry at Gladys's command. She then sends him to kill Justine. Marcus finds her at a gas station arguing with Archer and attacks her. Archer defends Justine, who flees in her car. Marcus chases after her into traffic and is fatally run over. Archer later reconciles with Justine and shows her his findings. She deduces that the children were running toward Alex's house.

A flashback reveals that Alex's mother had invited Gladys, a distant relative, to her home, as she suffers from an incurable illness and is homeless. Alex later comes home to discover that Gladys has bewitched his parents, threatening to make them kill themselves if Alex reveals her presence to others. Needing more victims, Gladys instructs Alex to gather a personal belonging from each of his classmates, promising to leave afterwards. After Alex complies, Gladys bewitches the children, summoning them to the basement to feed off their life force.

In the present, realizing she has been discovered, Gladys informs Alex that they need to leave. Archer and Justine enter Alex's house and are attacked by the bewitched Paul and James. Justine manages to get Paul's gun and kills them both. Archer searches for Matthew in the basement, only to be bewitched by Gladys into attacking Justine. Alex evades his bewitched parents and replicates Gladys' spell, targeting her. The children chase after Gladys, who flees through the neighborhood until they catch her and tear her apart. Upon her death, her victims are freed from their bewitchment, though all but Archer remain catatonic. Justine finds Alex embracing his parents, while Archer carries Matthew home. In a narrated epilogue, Alex moves out of town to live with a different aunt after his parents are institutionalized. The children return home, and some begin talking again.

Cast

• Josh Brolin as Archer Graff, a construction contractor and the father of Matthew, one of the missing children
• Julia Garner as Justine Gandy, an elementary school teacher whose class has vanished
• Alden Ehrenreich as Paul Morgan, a police officer and Justine's ex-boyfriend
• Austin Abrams as James, a homeless drug addict and burglar
• Cary Christopher as Alex Lilly, the only child from Justine's class who did not disappear
• Toby Huss as Ed Locke, the police captain and Paul's father-in-law
• Benedict Wong as Marcus Miller, the sympathetic school principal
• Amy Madigan as Gladys, Alex's elderly relative
• Sara Paxton as Erica, the mother of Bailey, one of the missing children
• Justin Long as Gary, the father of Bailey, one of the missing children
• June Diane Raphael as Donna Morgan, Paul's wife and Ed's daughter
• Whitmer Thomas as Alex's father
• Callie Schuttera as Alex's mother
• Luke Speakman as Matthew Graff, Archer's son and one of Justine's missing students
• Clayton Farris as Terry Miller, Marcus's husband
• Scarlett Sher as the child narrator

Production

Development

After the financial and critical success of his film Barbarian (2022), Zach Cregger began work on a new spec script titled Weapons. It has been described as a "horror epic" with a more "personal story" for the filmmaker. He cited the films Magnolia (1999), Prisoners (2013), and the novel A Visit from the Goon Squad as inspiration. Cregger was inspired to write the screenplay after the death of his close friend and collaborator, Trevor Moore. A reference to a sketch written by Moore for The Whitest Kids U' Know was added into the finished script. The screenplay entered the market on January 22, 2023, sparking interest by Netflix, New Line Cinema, TriStar Pictures and Universal Pictures.

Cregger electronically distributed the script to studios early in morning and by 8:00 am Michael De Luca, CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures, contacted him to close the deal. The exchange took less than 90 minutes, according to Cregger. New Line secured the rights within 24 hours after offering $38 million to cover all costs, including production and salaries. Cregger received $10 million as writer, director, and producer and a final cut privilege (pending test screening reactions to the film) in addition to a guaranteed theatrical release. Universal offered $7 million less than Warner Bros. Jordan Peele's company Monkeypaw Productions participated in the bidding war in conjunction with Universal. Peele dismissed longtime managers Joel Zadak and Peter Principato, the latter of whom was also Cregger's manager, after losing the opportunity.

Cregger's CAA agent, Joe Mann, negotiated the $10 million upfront fee. Cregger deferred $2 million in return for 50 backend points on the film. Revisions to the script following the sale included having Archer apologize to his employees during a scene at a construction site as well as having Alex steal the name tags for Aunt Gladys.

Casting

In May 2023, Pedro Pascal and Renate Reinsve were announced as part of the cast. Cregger later confirmed that the original cast included Pascal and Reinsve alongside Brian Tyree Henry and Austin Abrams. Production was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, which created schedule conflicts for the four actors, particularly for Pascal who had several projects lined up.

In February 2024, Josh Brolin replaced Pascal. In April, Julia Garner and Alden Ehrenreich were cast in the film. In May, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher and June Diane Raphael joined the cast. Abrams was the only cast member from the original cast to remain in the final film, explaining, "I loved the part and I didn't wanna let it go. So I just really held on 'cause I really wanted to do it."