Weapons ending explained: Here's what happened to 17 missing children

Weapons is a horror offering from Zach Creggar, produced by Creggar, Roy Lee, Raphael Margules, Miri Yoon, and J. D. Lifshitz. Here's the official synopsis as per Letterboxd:

When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.

The film was released on August 8, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures. Let us look into how it ends and uncover the mystery behind all those missing children.

Disclaimer: The article contains spoilers for the film.

What is the plot of Weapons?

A still from Weapons | Image via Warner Bros.

Weapons focuses on that one fateful night when 17 children, studying in the same class, left their homes and disappeared. They left their respective houses exactly at 2:17 am. Subsequently, their parents and teachers then try to make sense of the event and find out what really happened.

How does Weapons end?

Towards the end of Weapons, we realize that the disappearances are linked to a lady named Gladys. She is the aunt of Alex, who is the sole child of the class that did not disappear.

In the climax, everyone gathers inside Alex's house, where all the 17 missing children have been held up. In a flashback sequence, we find out that Alex and his parents had helped Gladys a few years ago when she was unwell. A tree inside the room of Gladys catches Alex's attention. One day after school, he sees Gladys making his parents mutilate their bodies.

She makes it clear that his parents will be k*lled if he tells anyone about her. Knowing that she performs witchcraft, Alex decides to follow her order. Gladys then asks him to summon all his classmates for possession. Thinking that this would make her go away, Alex agrees. All the kids are summoned to his house the very next night.

James and Paul, who are possessed, attack Archer and Justine inside Alex's home. Alex starts to disobey Gladys' orders. Meanwhile, James and Paul are shot dead by Justine, who picks up Paul's pistol. Archer is now possessed by Gladys, who makes him jump on Justine.

Alex manages to break Gladys' magical spell on the children. All of them eventually start chasing her around the house. She is cornered and beaten up by them. They brutally start kicking her around, and her head is torn in two pieces. Archer jumps to hug his son as the spell is dismantled. All the children return to their respective homes.

Gladys decided to possess the children because it helped her become physically better. She was ill but visibly became better afterwards. Gladys was taking the energy of the kids' parents. So she decides to attack Alex's classmates, which would help her completely heal.

Towards the end of Weapons, the narrator reveals that only some of those children spoke again. Most of them lived vegetative lives. Through this story, the makers might be talking about children and the relationship they have with their parents.

What did you think of the film's ending?