Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Weapons!Heading into Weapons, the importance of 2:17 am in the story was evident. This was the time that 17 children woke up and ran out of their houses with their arms stretched out and vanished into the night. That left a lot of questions about why 2:17 am was specifically chosen.

It’s common for movies to include deeper meanings behind various decisions, so there was some level of expectation that Weapons would do the same with this time. The movie plainly explains why the children left their houses at 2:17 am, as this is the time that Aunt Gladys conducts her spell to put them under her control.

There is no direct hint in the movie that 2:17 am was chosen for a specific reason, and writer/director Zach Cregger has gone back and forth on whether there’s a deeper meaning in play here. He confirmed in an interview with Screen Rant there was some level of intentionality behind choosing this time out of all possible outcomes.

It’s a detail that I thought would just lodge in the characters’ brains. Why 2:17? So, I just thought it was sticky. The number itself… debateably significant. But just the fact there is a number I thought was like, that’s the point.

Yet, he’s also revealed he almost changed it to 2:37 am as a reference to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (via CinemaBlend) and noted an unconscious potential link between 2:17 and Room 217 in Stephen King’s book. This all suggests that there’s no real rhyme or reason for 2:17 am being the exact time Cregger chose to have the kids leave.

Luckily, Weapons leaves a lot of decisions open to interpretation, and if this detail and its significance is open for debate and discussion, then it’s time to dive in. Some have suggested a connection to the 217 winning votes in 2022’s House of Representatives’ ban on ᴀssault rifles, which didn’t ultimately pᴀss, due to readings of Weapons as an allegory for school shootings.

That’s a valid theory, but not been proven to be accurate. Looking at the movie and various details unearths some potential explanations for why 2:17 am is not randomly selected and is actually a perfectly fitting choice for when the kids go missing in Weapons.

Weapons’ 2:17 am Time Is A Reference To Gladys’ Victims

A potentially more straightforward interpretation of the meaning behind 2:17 is how it connects to the main story and Gladys’ victims. It seems too coincidental that the number of minutes is the same as how many of Justine Gandy’s school kids who go missing.

If the minutes are a reference to the kids, then it’s the hour number that must be solved next. There are two possible readings here. First, the hour represents the two participants in Justine’s class – herself and Alex – who were not directly put under Gladys’ spell.

The ratio of two remaining members of the class and seventeen missing children directly matches the time on the clock when all their lives change, 2:17.

Another possibility is that the 2 hour part is a reference to Alex’s parents. They are Gladys’ first two victims who are trapped under her spell. But when they are not enough to bring her back to full health, she targets all of Alex’s classmates. He goes from having 2 people in the trance to aiding his “aunt” in adding 17 more.

There’s a chance that Gladys had to perform the spell at this time to keep control over everyone. We don’t get many details about the specifics of her witchcraft, something Weapons‘ Gladys prequel could change, but everything she does is particularly planned out and meaningful. The time that this spell occurs should be no different.

Weapons’ 2:17 am Also Has A Biblical Parallel

In addition, or possibly in place of, the reading connecting the time to Gladys’ victims, it’s also notable that there is a direct connection to the Bible through Weapons‘ time choice. Cregger’s movie isn’t inherently political or religious in nature, so this may be an unintended meaning, but it also lines up too well to ignore.

For Weapons, the Biblical pᴀssage in question is Matthew 2:17, which in the New International Version reads, “Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled.”

This verse is referencing Jeremiah 31:15, which reads, “This is what the Lord says: A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

These verses are all about a parent mourning the loss of a child. In Jeremiah 31:15, Rachel is the mother of Israel and is mourning her children becoming lost in exile. In Matthew 2:17, Matthew calls back to this prophecy after King Herod ordered the deaths of children in Bethlehem under a certain age in an attempt to kill Jesus as a child.

If nothing else, it’s intriguing that the 2:17 time can be linked to a Bible verse that’s connected to the loss of children and parents grieving them. Horror movies have a history of Biblical parallels, and even though this one is not more direct by Weapons‘ ending, it’s fascinating how much this pᴀssage connects to the story at hand.

To be fair, of the 66 books of the Bible, 48 of them have a 2:17 verse. But their topics range wildly, and Matthew’s link to Jeremiah 31:15 is fitting in the case of Weapons.

It’s also worth noting that Cregger did grow up in the Christian faith (via SBUTV), and while he no longer considers himself a Christian, there is a chance that his history with the religion and reading the Bible consciously or subconsciously led him to choose 2:17 am. In any case, Weapons‘ time choice has many potential interpretations and meanings.