Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Weapons!

Even though the villain is defeated in the movie, Weapons doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending. In the horror film, Alex’s great-aunt Gladys puts all of his classmates in a trance, leading to them running out of their homes at 2:17 in the morning.

Weapons is split into various chapters, each following a different character. Most of the film follows Julia Gardner’s Justine and Josh Brolin’s Archer as they search for the missing children. However, the final chapter of the movie follows Alex, and shows how Gladys completely ruined his life.

It’s only revealed in Weapons‘ ending that Gladys is the one behind it all. Gladys’ backstory is not explored much in Weapons, but she uses her immense power to control people with spells to make herself healthier and eliminate anyone who poses a threat.

Ultimately, Glady’s death is the finale of the movie and rids this town and its missing children of her control. This is obviously a good thing, but with so much death, this was never going to be a happy ending. Yet, a specific detail makes it all the more heartbreaking.

The Ending Of Weapons Reveals Alex’s Parents Still Haven’t Recovered

In the movie’s final chapter, we see that Alex comes from a happy family. His parents were very loving, but that all changed when they agreed to take care of Gladys. Alex’s parents were the first people that Gladys put into a trance, and she basically used them as hostages to ensure that the young boy would do her bidding.

Alex only goes along with what she wants to keep his parents safe, and that’s why he uses Gladys’ spell against her and makes all the children target her. After Gladys’ death, everyone she had control over came out of their trances. Archer was finally able to reunite with his son, but things unfortunately did not go back to normal for Alex and his parents.

The voiceover at the end of the movie reveals that Alex’s parents still haven’t recovered from the trances they were in. This is presumably because they were under Gladys’ spell for much longer than any of the other characters in Weapons. To make matters even sadder, Alex is separated from his parents so they can receive proper care.

As a viewer, this is especially heartbreaking. The movie really shows the tragedy of Alex’s life, and Cary Christopher’s performance makes the young boy someone you want to see go back to his normal, mostly happy life, minus the school bullies. It’s clear from this final line that this hasn’t happened.

Alex may have saved his parents from Gladys’ spell and stopped them from trying to attack him, but his actions still might not be enough to get back the life that was unfairly taken from him.

The girl speaker even reveals that some of the children still can’t speak a year after they were kidnapped by Gladys. This confirms that Alex’s parents, and possibly even some of the children, might never be the same again. This will create generational trauma, proving that Gladys’ actions will continue to affect this community long after her death.

Therefore, even though Gladys is killed at the end of Weapons, it does not have a happy ending. The look in Archer’s son’s eyes helps communicate that the kids and Alex’s parents may never fully be the same after this traumatizing event.