Why Some Viewers Call Weapons Misogynistic — Inside the Hagsploitation Debate Over Aunt Gladys

Zach Cregger’s film Weapons has prompted discussion about “hagsploitation” — a horror-trope where older women are depicted as monstrous — and how that portrayal compares to recent movies like The Substance, X, Barbarian, and The Front Room. Below are the facts about the term, the examples viewers cite, and the specific elements in each film that critics and audiences have pointed to.

• Define the term and its alternate name.
• List recent films cited as examples and describe the relevant characters and scenes.
• Show how Weapons presents Aunt Gladys and how that compares to other films.
• Include source links and a referenced tweet.

What is “hagsploitation”?

Critics and viewers use the term “hagsploitation” to describe stories that use an older woman as a monstrous figure, often highlighting age-related physical change as a source of fear or disgust. The term is sometimes also referred to as a “psycho-biddy” role, a label with historical use in film criticism.

How the debate started

Recently, online conversations and reviews have flagged several new horror films for employing this trope. Plenty has been written about the trend, and some commentators argue the trope can be misogynistic when it equates aging female bodies with terror. For another perspective, see additional commentary collected at this essay.

Key films and the characters people point to

Weapons (2024)

Weapons centers on Aunt Gladys, played by Amy Madigan. In the film she is introduced as Alex’s (Cary Christopher) great-aunt and temporary guardian after 17 third-graders disappear from his class. Marcus Miller (Benedict Wong) is the school principal who first meets Gladys. The movie reveals that Gladys uses sympathetic magic to keep people in catatonia and drain their life force, and she is shown with heavy makeup and a bright wig that conceal a withered face and nearly hairless head. The film includes an ending where a group of young people tear Gladys apart.

everyone dunked on that thinkpiece about the resurgence of the aging woman as a monstrous figure in contemporary horror a few years ago but it seems pretty vindicated to me idk, like swap out longlegs for barbarian and… https://t.co/DejOeaqlre

— rural juror no. 2 (@resurrecti0ns) August 9, 2025

X (2022) and its related films

X features Mia Goth in dual roles: Maxine, a young woman, and Pearl, an elderly woman whose history and actions are central to the film’s plot. Critics noted that Pearl’s aged appearance and violent actions were a major part of how the character was presented. Reviews of the film and its treatment of gender and age can be found, for example, at RogerEbert.com. Mia Goth later reprised the older character in the prequel Pearl and appears again in the sequel MaXXXine.

The Substance (2024)

The Substance includes characters played by Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore. The film follows an aging actress and a younger woman in a story that mixes satire of Hollywood beauty standards with body-transformation horror. Observers have debated whether the film satirizes industry ageism or simply uses an aging woman’s body as a site for spectacle. Promotional and press images for the film are available via MUBI and other outlets.

The Front Room (2023)

The Front Room features a character played by Kathryn Hunter who becomes a focal point of conflict with Brandy Norwood’s character. Critics and viewers noted the film’s depiction of elder-care dynamics and antagonistic behavior as reasons why some considered the film’s treatment of its older character to be troubling rather than sympathetic.

Barbarian (2022)

Barbarian, also directed by Zach Cregger, includes a deformed woman who was held prisoner in a house and later acts violently. The film gives that character scenes that some readers and viewers described as offering cathartic payoffs tied to other characters’ abuses, and observers have used Barbarian when discussing recurring use of older or deformed women as horror antagonists.

How Weapons compares to the others

Factually, Weapons presents Aunt Gladys as both a disguised eccentric (wig and makeup) and an antagonist who uses magic to incapacitate others. In contrast, films like X and The Substance have been noted for presenting more layered or ambivalent portrayals: X doubles young and old versions of the same performer, and The Substance frames its plot around Hollywood aging and image. Meanwhile, The Front Room and Barbarian were cited for more straightforwardly antagonistic older characters.

Filmmaker notes and reported background

Reports indicate that Zach Cregger allowed Amy Madigan two backstory options for Aunt Gladys while she was on set: either a once-normal woman who used dark magic to survive illness, or a creature disguising itself to look human. The Hollywood Reporter has reported a planned Aunt Gladys prequel based on cut material. Additionally, Vanity Fair covered the on-set discussion of Gladys’ backstory options given to Madigan.

Where the conversation stands

Concretely, some viewers and critics have called the current wave of horror characters “hagsploitation,” while others and some filmmakers treat aging or transformed female bodies as a way to explore fear, mortality, or industry pressure. Sources, reviews, and essays linked above document both the scenes that prompted the debate and the production reporting that followed.