Zach Cregger has a gift for making horror that feels alive and offbeat. His films are scary but also strangely funny, and Weapons takes that mix to another level. The movie is filled with disturbing images, yet the humor sneaks in at the right moments. It never ruins the tension. Instead, it makes the characters feel more real, because people often react to fear in odd ways.
Josh Brolin’s character Archer shows this when he wakes from a nightmare and blurts something out loud. It is such a raw and human reaction that it gets a laugh, even though the scene is still unsettling. Austin Abrams, who plays James, adds lighter moments too. His nervous excuse to a police officer about why he cannot go inside because of his phobia feels awkward and funny. Another moment has him quietly rifling through a family’s old DVD collection while chaos unfolds around him. These touches of humor highlight how strange and unpredictable the world of Weapons really is.
But the most unforgettable part of the film belongs to Aunty Gladys. Played by Amy Madigan, she is the kind of villain who gets under your skin. Calm, clever, and manipulative, she hides behind lies and rituals that seem older than time. The way she controls those around her makes her feel impossible to stop. For most of the film, she is terrifying because of how untouchable she seems.
That is why her downfall hits so hard. Instead of a serious, dark showdown, her end begins with a wild chase that feels completely out of place yet works brilliantly. Gladys runs through houses and across streets, desperately trying to escape the very children she once controlled. Windows shatter, furniture is knocked over, and the once calm villain turns into a frantic mess. It is absurd, almost cartoon-like, but also deeply satisfying to watch her lose the control she had clung to for so long.
Cregger later revealed that this sequence was not in the original script. Gladys was meant to die quickly in the front yard. But during filming, he felt the finale needed more, so he stretched it into a long, chaotic chase. It took four extra days of shooting, but it gave the movie one of its most unforgettable scenes.
The chase ends in brutal fashion. Gladys is finally overpowered by the children in a bloody, cathartic moment. It is grotesque, but it delivers the closure audiences had been waiting for. Watching such a manipulative villain meet her end in such an unexpected mix of comedy and horror feels like the perfect sendoff.
In Weapons, Aunty Gladys proves that a villain can be terrifying and hilarious at the same time. Her breakdown and death cement her as one of the most memorable characters of 2025, showing just how bold and inventive horror can be when it refuses to play by the rules.