How Old Is Aunt Gladys in WEAPONS? The Witch Theory That Changes Everything

If you walked away from Weapons wondering what the deal was with creepy Aunt Gladys, you're not alone. Her eerie presence, strange behavior, and influence over everyone around her suggest there’s way more going on than just a creepy relative showing up after a long absence. So how old is she really? And is she even human?

While Weapons never comes right out and says how old Aunt Gladys is, there are plenty of clues that she might be centuries old.

One of the biggest red flags is her use of the word “consumption” when talking about tuberculosis. That’s a term that hasn't been commonly used since the 19th century. Either she's a history buff or she's been around a very long time.

Then there's the timeline mess. Alex’s parents claim they haven’t seen Gladys in 15 years. But Gladys insists the last time she saw Alex was when he was a baby. That doesn’t line up at all. When you add in her ability to implant false memories.

Gladys shows up after Alex’s parents get sick, presenting herself as his great-aunt. But it quickly becomes clear that she’s more than just a distant relative. She's a witch who practices sympathetic magic, a nasty form of sorcery that lets her control and feed off others.

She needs a piece of someone (like hair or a personal item), her own blood, and blackthorn branches to activate her spells, which she casts using a bell covered in occult markings.

She keeps all of this hidden from everyone, except Alex, forcing him to promise not to tell anyone about her or what she’s doing. At first, she takes control of his parents. Then she sends Alex to gather items from his 17 classmates. Using those items, she traps the kids in her basement and feeds off their life force to heal herself and slow down the disease that’s consuming her.

Her reach goes beyond just Alex and the kids. She hypnotizes Principal Marcus into murdering his husband. She sets her sights on Justine Gandy and Archer Graff too, using her controlled victims to attack and kill anyone who threatens her plan. The magic-fueled chaos doesn’t stop until Alex finally figures out how to take control of her powers.

So, is Aunt Gladys immortal? Not exactly. But she may have found a way to cheat death.

Zach Cregger, the film’s director, explained the character’s true nature like this: “Gladys is either a human who turned to dark magic to survive illness or a non-human creature posing as one.” Either way, she’s a witch in the story, and everything she does revolves around draining others to keep herself going.

In the end, the very kids she imprisoned are the ones who take her down. Her reign of terror collapses the moment she loses control. Whether she's a centuries-old sorceress or something even darker, Gladys is a extremely chilling and evil character, not just because of her powers, but because of the mystery around who, or what, she really is.

Personally, I don’t think this is Aunt Gladys at all, I think Aunt Gladys is dead, and an ancient witch has taken over her body and is trying to keep it alive. Maybe in the movie she is trying to find a new human vessel to transfer her conciousness into, but the vessel has to have all the right elements?

What do you think?