Five Nights at Freddy’s, directed by Emma Tammi, and released Oct. 27, is based on the franchise created by Scott Cawthon, which first made its debut in 2014 with the video game Five Nights at Freddy’s. From the beginning of the movie, it is obvious that the filmmakers worked hard to include aspects of the original games, recreating many of the same rooms and locations. The film includes the four original FNAF animatronics (Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy) and appearances by spinoff characters that fans will find easy to recognize.
The 2023 film focuses on Mike Schmit (Josh Hutcherson) working as the security guard for an abandoned children’s entertainment center, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. As the nights progress, he discovers the truth behind the child disappearances and the not-so-abandoned arcade.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is set in 2000, but the film’s primary location, the pizzeria, closed around 1986, giving the movie a strong 80s vibe. The film is similar to the popular television show Stranger Things, this is exhibited through its music, incorporation of children’s drawings, and scene identical to Stranger Things where blood pours out of a child’s eyes.
For someone who doesn’t play the game Five Nights at Freddy’s, the plot and backstory of the movie are relatively easy to understand. There were a few elements that were left unexplained and a bit confusing, such as the animatronics backstory and a simple explanation of who the killer behind it all was. However, the filmmakers generally developed a story that both fans and everyone else can appreciate.
The video game Five Nights at Freddy’s is shown through the lens of security cameras. Players act as security guards hired to protect themselves from the animatronics by checking the security cameras without draining too much power. The filmmakers opted to ignore this, and the whole concept was a missed opportunity to have scenes filmed through security cameras. Many moments would have been a lot more interesting if they had been filmed differently.
For the movie’s collection of actors, they gathered fan favorites including Matthew Lillard who plays Stu in Scream and Josh Hutcherson who stars as Peeta Mallark in The Hunger Games. Both actors were well cast and fit their respective roles, delivering an incredible performance.
Five Nights at Freddy’s earns 2.5/5 feathers. Despite Josh Hutcherson’s starring, this film didn’t live up to its full potential. If the film had incorporated security cameras into the actual cinematography of the film and explained a better backstory, it would have been more enjoyable.
