Syd Brisbane

As the newly awakened gnomes begin their bloody spree, slaughtering animals and a local video store employee, Officer Arnold wakes to find the Gnome Queen statue missing from the festival grounds. The Mayor's obsession is revealed: he secretly diverted town funds to acquire her. Arnold and his ex, Sergeant Ellie, investigate mounting disturbances across Gnometown, their renewed partnership strained by unresolved tension. Meanwhile, teen Zayn is wrongfully accused of theft and struggles to clear his name.

Zayn arrives just in time to rescue his sister Rosie, discovering that microwaving gnomes causes them to explode, a crucial weakness. Arnold and Ellie's strained relationship worsens as the Mayor stubbornly refuses to cancel the Gnome-a-palooza festival despite the rising body count. The chaos escalates when gnomes hijack a police cruiser and use it as a weapon against the town. In a devastating turn, Police Chief Harvey, Ellie's superior, makes the ultimate sacrifice, charging alone into a horde of gnomes to save the group. The Mayor's triumphant festival reveal then falls apart when he uncovers Mr. Henderson's gnome-mangled corpse.

A reporter covering the chaos is killed on camera by a gnome, with the footage going public. The teens capture a legless gnome for study. The stakes turn deeply personal for Arnold when he discovers his knife wound is slowly turning him to stone, a direct consequence of the Queen's curse. The gnome attacks grow bolder: a "Jason"-masked gnome and a pirate gnome lead a siege on the police station, killing several officers. A team of monster hunters arrives, claiming they know how to stop the Queen. Meanwhile, Arnold confesses to Ellie that he kept the festival running just to save his job, a revelation that deepens the fracture between them.

The monster hunters reveal the Queen's origins: petrified by witches long ago, she was freed when Arnold, a virgin who touched the hatchet during the solstice, unknowingly met the precise conditions of the ancient curse. A three-step plan emerges: retrieve the hatchet, trap the Queen, and perform a spell. But tragedy strikes when the hunters' van explodes. Arnold opens up to Ellie about why his ex Jenny calls him "lucky." Meanwhile, the Queen raises a growing gnome army. Arnold, Ellie, and the Mayor set off for a nearby gnome factory, hoping to use its industrial kiln to destroy the hatchet and break the curse for good.

Survivors converge on the gnome factory for a final showdown. A massive gnome statue comes to life but is accidentally electrocuted. In a desperate gambit, the now-blind Mayor commandeers a fire truck loaded with weed killer, using it to melt the gnome horde. Arnold faces the Gnome Queen in a brutal final confrontation, and as the stone curse consumes his body, he uses his last moments to impale her on the hatchet. The Queen dies, the curse breaks, and all gnomes across the town turn to stone. In the aftermath, Ellie keeps vigil over Arnold's petrified body.