The thing about Paul’s chapter that I feel like nobody has pointed out is that shows just how much of an asshole he is is that he gets stuck with the needle, THEN goes to have sex with Justine. So he not only cheats on his wife, but he also risks ANOTHER WOMAN’S sexual health at the same time. Just a small part of the film that I think really seals the deal on what kind of guy her is and I just love it.

Josh Brolin’s “WHATTHEFUCK!!” Was the perfect reaction as well as being very relatable 😂

Speaking as a former addict, I actually really liked Paul's wife, Donna, and found her very sympathetic (apart from physically attacking Justine lmao). I've seen a lot of people hate on her, and I can see why just from her actions in Justine's chapter, but I can really relate to her so here's my take.

With Justine and Paul's relationship, it's hinted that they've had an affair previously, likely before Paul got sober and/or during his relapse/s. When Justine is driving him back to the bar the morning after they cheat together, she says something along the lines of "I won't spam text you again, I learnt my lesson last time" (can't remember the exact dialogue). What's the lesson? Probably that Donna saw those messages and it caused problems in their marriage. That may also be why Justine and Paul seemed to be so distant at the start of the film, like they'd cut contact previously or hadn't spoken in a while.

That, paired with Justine asking Paul (a married man) to meet her at a bar at night, Paul telling Justine that him and Donna aren't together when he meets Justine at the bar, Justine being REALLY happy about that, her openly flirting with him before that, Paul going to see her during a stressful time instead of talking to Donna, and Donna attacking Justine in the shop while absolutely distraught, REALLY indicated to me that this was NOT the first time Paul had cheated with Justine since he married his wife. For Donna to react like that, how much of a problem was Justine in Paul and Donna's marriage?
All of their dialogue and scenes really paint a picture that Paul and Justine's relationship had lots of alcohol and was toxic long before the events of the film.

Donna actually seemed loving and extremely supportive when she was on the phone with Paul at the start of his chapter. We don't know how long it's been since he's been sober this time, but his sobriety during the film is obviously new enough that Donna is concerned about leaving him alone for extended periods of time. Their discussion of him attending an AA meeting and her encouragement toward that was very supportive and standard for a healthy relationship with an addict, and not unlike conversations I've personally had.

Both Paul and Donna's reactions when he comes home to find she's home early tells me a lot about their relationship and his past behaviour. This has happened before and I understand Donna's reaction. She thought she was building a life and family with him, and he doesn't even know what he wants. He lies to her, cheats on her with Justine (very likely not the first time), breaks his sobriety (VERY likely not his first time) and doesn't seem to even really like her. He seems trapped in his job and his family and is an awful person.

I truly feel for and empathise with anyone who has an addict in their lives, it's hard and the ONLY thing I can fault Paul's wife for is assaulting Justine.

Justice for Donna 😂

children getting to violently chase an adult, both in the movie and at the oscar’s. final answer

Also, the scene where Gladys tells Alex to sit and listen to her as she tells him what will happen if he tells anyone what’s going on, is one of the most unnerving scenes of all time. Her tonal change and the severity of what she’s conveying is done superbly. She 100% deserved that Oscar

The thing I loved the most was how jarring the proper introduction of Gladys is. You have this genuinely creepy build up with flashes of this scary clown lady, but when we meet her properly she's just an eccentric older lady and we have to sit with that dissonance for a while. It's really different and cool.

One aspect of Paul's story I seldom see mentioned is that not only does he lie to Justine about not being with Donna, but he also has (almost certainly) unprotected sex with her. thus passing along whatever he got from James' hypodermic to her. Would he also not have told Donna about it, and had unprotected sex with her, too? She was ready to make a baby with him when she got home.

To me, what makes Gladys such an effective villain is not only how terrifying she is, but how funny she is. She kind of reminds me of Annie Wilkes from Misery in that she's actually scarier when she's being more light-hearted because you never know when she's going to snap. Amy Madigan definitely deserved that Oscar!

So damn happy Madigan won for what was never meant to be an Oscar bait role

Wait, there are people who aren't Team Donna? Witch saved her the trouble of taking out that absolute trash.

I'm sorry but this has been so frustrating for me. Why has nobody seemed to notice that Gladys ISN'T Alex's aunt? It seems so obvious to me, but I see other people still calling her his aunt, or great-aunt. I think she's probably not even related to the family, just using her magic to manipulate her way into the home.

Point #1: She tells Marcus "His mom is my baby sister," but Alex's dad says "your mom's aunt"

Point #2: She tells Alex "I haven't seen you since you were just a baby" or something like that when he comes home from school, but his parents said during their argument that they haven't seen her in over 15 years

Point #3: Alex's maternal grandmother seems to have already passed, since the mom says "it's what my mother would have done."

I think she DID have an aunt named Gladys, but hasn't seen her in so long that she's forgotten, or just doesn't know, what she looks like. This witch took advantage of that, and made contact pretending to be the aunt. After the parents were catatonic, she just couldn't keep her story straight.

Gladys even comes off like one of those older alcoholic women that you always see at the pub.  She has a "fashion" that she thinks is young looking, she is bubbly but it rubs people the wrong way and her make up is messy and smeared like it was applied yesterday.

Genius

"It's just a weird little peculiarity of mine, I don't even try to rationalize it anymore" as a person with severe OCD I felt this in my soul tbh

Tbh I think Paul's character is basically that "nice guy" who's actually shitty lmao.

The audible gasp of the entire audience i was with when she opened the rear door of the car, was amazing.

I Always saw Gladys' ''illness'' as death catching up to an old witch refusing to die. She was a mysterious family member that could be much older than she lets others know.

I think the reason there are a few things that don't perfectly fit the alcoholism/addiction theme is that it's actually a sub-theme. I've turned the movie around in my head a lot, and I was stuck for a while on alcoholism and addiction because it's so prevalent, but something felt off because of the few characters where it doesn't have a clear connection (Archer, Marcus, Alex's parents, etc.), so I did more research on Cregger and the writing process for the movie--probably too much research--and finally landed on the movie not necessarily being ABOUT alcoholism and addiction, but about tragedy and grief and all the ways people cope with that, which obviously includes alcoholism and addiction, but isn't limited to it. Gladys is the personification of tragedy and grief. She just sort of shows up and completely devastates the lives of everyone she touches. Some turn to substances, but others handle it in other ways, like Archer with his obsession. It even tidies up the thematic relevance of the tool of so many school-based tragedies showing up in Archer's dream, and adds even more weight to the line at the end about the kids only just starting to speak again. Love this movie though, and 100% agree that it can be enjoyed at whatever level you want to engage with it, from just taking it as a surface level wild horror movie to going all the way to the point where every character and interaction is an abstraction of some thematic idea. It's crazy that he was able craft something that works at every point on that scale, and yeah, I think it is pretty much perfect.

Weapons feels like a fresh take on the Pied Piper fairytale.

7:44 - when I saw Weapons in the cinema, the whole audience held their breath when the mother was shambling down the street towards Justine and then when they heard the car door open, everyone collectively gasped.

Jump scares? Sinister with the lawnmower. The clapping hands in The Conjuring. Annie jumping out of the darkness in Hereditary. The hospital scene in The Exorcist III. Jump scares are awesome if they're earned and done correctly.