Weapons Twisted Ending Explains What Happened To Missing Children

Josh Brolin’s Weapons builds its horror on mystery, but the ending finally answers the truth behind the missing children. With a brutal, chaotic climax and a gut-punch final shot, the film reveals what really happened to the kids and the twisted person at the center of it all.

What happened to Gladys at the end of Weapons?

Everything circles back to Gladys — a woman who comes into Alex’s home pretending to be sick, but turns out to be a powerful witch. Her name pops up throughout the film’s fragmented chapters, but it’s only in the finale that her role becomes terrifyingly clear.

At the climax, teacher Justine, desperate parent Archer, Justine’s troubled ex-boyfriend Paul, and reluctant informant James converge at Alex’s house, where the missing kids are hidden. Gladys had rigged the house with spells, using Paul and James as magically activated weapons to attack anyone who crossed her salt barrier.

Once Justine unintentionally triggers the spell, Paul attacks her while James goes after Archer. Justine kills Paul with his own gun and shoots James to save Archer, who then heads to the basement and finds the missing children standing silently, alive but zombified. But Gladys isn’t done.

Upstairs, Alex uses one of her spell branches, wraps it with her hair, and performs the ritual he secretly watched her do. As Gladys watches Archer choke Justine under her command, Alex snaps the branch — breaking the magic. Gladys senses it instantly and bolts from the house. But the mob of children she once controlled chases her down and tears her apart, breaking the curse with her death.

Why did children disappear in Weapons?

The mystery of why the children vanished at exactly 2:17 a.m. is tied to Gladys’ dark magic. In Alex’s chapter, Gladys originally came into his home, appearing sick and fragile. Over time, she sucked the life out of his parents to sustain herself. When that source began to fade, she turned to a larger energy pool: Alex’s classmates.

Using personal items from each child, she cast a ritual that summoned them to her at exactly that time. They walked out of their homes in sync, sleepwalking into her basement, where she kept them in a trance, feeding on their energy to sustain herself. Alex, her reluctant accomplice, fed them soup to keep them alive, but they remained in a trance-like state, just like his parents.