I watched this on HBO last night and liked it a lot. The final 5-10 minutes and Gladys' fate went overboard into absurdist territory, though. Possessed or not, children running full speed through windows and obstacles like that would have made them all bleed to death (or severely injured) from their wounds. Just because they were in that coma state doesn't mean they don't suffer injuries. I think the way Gladys was killed was an homage to Romero's Day of the Dead.

I read they're going to make a sequel. Gladys is supposedly hundreds of years old. It's hinted in some of the archaic words she uses in Weapons, like "consumption," etc.

That's wild to me, I found Teyana Taylor to be distractingly bad.

Madigan killed it imo. Just the sight of her (which admittedly is largely hair and makeup) creeps you out. Especially in the visions and dreams. That disquieting aura still needs to be conveyed, and she was off the charts. Film doesn't work if she doesn't nail the role. Actually wouldn't mind a Gladys prequel if it's handled well. And Cregger is 2-for-2 in a big way so I think he could pull it off.

Sounds like we mostly agree.

I think Madigan was great in this too. I think she really elevates the whole movie actually. It's not just her hair and makeup. It's beyond that. In fact the star scene in the movie for me was one that no one has mentioned. It was her initial appearance (as a real "person") to Principal Wong. I actually really loved that scene and thought it was the best in the movie. I thought it was pretty unique to have the villain of the movie be out in the daylight as a regular person and seeing how she interacts as a normal person. The interaction between her and Wong was really well done on both sides. I loved Wong's reaction and trying to act professional and normalize what he was seeing. It was great, it was tense, it was hilarious. Her menacing was also really subtle in that scene which I appreciated.

As far as is her performance deserving of an oscar?? I'm not one to say. I haven't seen all the oscar bait movies yet so don't know who she's up against. But probably not?

I will preface all this with the fact that I thought the movie was just okay. I just watched it the other day (missed it during spooky season and it just didn't fit the holidays). I thought it was well acted and there were certain scenes that really hit it out of the park. Like the Sorcerer Supreme vs. the Herbal Witch. I also thought that end scene with all the kids running after Gladys was great. It was over the top and goofy and funny but great. In particular the guy mowing his lawn and seeing the missformed Gladys being chased by all those kids was just so perfect. It was the juxtaposition between the mundane and the insane that really did it for me. The set up was really well done as well. I thought the intrigue of the missing children and the town dealing with that grief and weight was well done. But I think the payoff was just kind of meh. It just ends up being another witch, another horror movie trope, oh the cordyceps/parasites thing again, another gory ending. It was all just kind of lackluster at the end.

I absolutely love stories that are told from different viewpoints and loved the set up here. But again the payoff is just lackluster. The stories don't really weave with each other very well. Oftentimes just offering literally a different view point and not really diving down deeper on how the story was affecting the different characters. I just don't think it was very well utilized here.

I just don't think it was as smart or unique as it thought it was being. They threw a lot of different concepts up there with almost none of them being fully explored or coming to a satisfying conclusion.

This film just faded from my memory, and I have no urge to watch it again (I believe this happened to someone else here as well). It's definitely not a bad movie and I can't really point to what my main issue is with it, but I think it's just a bit dull which, yeah, that's a weird thing to say considering how engaged I was during my first viewing. If I was ok with the comedy like ending on my first watch, I'm definitely not ok with it now.

With that said, I believe Madigan should win the award for this.

Interesting. I'd say I'm the opposite. Coming from the POV of a writer, I really appreciate this film's narrative approach: the shifting perspectives and resulting sense of constant revelation. I love watching that play out and have enjoyed it multiple times. I honestly can't fathom anyone finding this film dull! I will admit the "comedy" of the ending isn't as narratively satisfying on the fifth rewatch, but it's still one of the better times I had at the cinema last year. I still give this film a solid A. As a point of comparison, again speaking as a writer, I find Sinners to be almost completely un-rewatchable. Yes, it looks and sounds good, but the plot is just plain silly, dealing in tired genre gimmicks, even down to the pseudo-Tarantino post-script.

I loved Sinners much more than this movie. IMO the writing and acting are on a level above this movie. The plot and more importantly the themes and allegory are consistent and clear. Weapons feels like they threw everything at the wall to see what would stick and for me none of it did. It was a series of very interesting premises and scenes that don't tell a whole story or follow through with any deep allegory or theme. I really don't see how the plot of Sinners is any more silly than Weapons.

IMO the shifting perspectives was not nearly as unique or revelatory as people seem to think. I liked it. I think it did a lot for the pacing of the movie. But it's not like it's something that hasn't been done time and time again and much better. Heck Star Trek and Lost does much better with this writing trope. It really doesn't feel like the different viewpoints are even necessary for this movie to happen. It doesn't seem like it was written with this in mind. The timeline doesn't add up. It's sloppy. And because of that it doesn't feel like it's necessary at all. It's not like there's one big moment where all these character's perspectives are coming together. It's just the plot that's coming together. I'm probably not doing a great job of explaining it but it simply doesn't come across as amazing writing to me. More like a gimmick.

But honestly I don't know that I'll rewatch either very often. So I'm not sure how they would hold up on a rewatch.