Five Nights at Freddy's.
A HORROR MOVIE REVIEW.
Five Nights at Freddy's is a 2023 American supernatural horror film based on the video game series of the same name created by Scott Cawthon. Directed by Emma Tammi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cawthon and Seth Cuddeback from a story by Cawthon, Chris Lee Hill, and Tyler MacIntyre, the film stars Josh Hutcherson as a troubled security guard who starts a job at an abandoned pizzeria where he discovers its animatronic mascots are possessed by the souls of murdered children. Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Mary Stuart Masterson and Matthew Lillard star in supporting roles.
Five Nights at Freddy's was simultaneously released for streaming on Peacock and theatrically in the United States on October 27, 2023, by Universal Pictures. Despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics, the film was a commercial success, and becoming Blumhouse's highest-grossing film worldwide, surpassing Split which was released in (2016). A sequel, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, is scheduled to be released on December 5, 2025.
At Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a once-popular but now abandoned pizzeria, a frightened night security guard desperately tries to escape the eerie building. However, his attempt to flee ends in failure when he is captured and strapped to a deadly torture device, ultimately meeting a gruesome death.
Sometime later, Mike Schmidt, a mall security guard, faces personal challenges of his own. After getting fired for attacking a man he mistakenly thought was kidnapping a child, Mike finds himself in need of a new job. The man in question was merely a negligent father, but Mike’s actions leave him jobless. As if his situation wasn't dire enough, he faces the possibility of losing custody of his younger sister, Abby. Social services step in, threatening to place Abby with their estranged aunt, Jane, a woman more interested in the financial benefits of custody than Abby's well-being. Pressured by these circumstances, Mike is left with few options. His career counselor, Steve Raglan, offers him a job as the night security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Despite initial hesitation, Mike reluctantly accepts, hoping this job will allow him to retain custody of his sister.
On his first night at the pizzeria, Mike falls asleep on duty and experiences a recurring nightmare. He is haunted by the kidnapping of his younger brother, Garrett, an event that has deeply scarred him. In his dream, Mike encounters a group of five children who had witnessed Garrett's abduction, but they run away when he tries to approach them. Meanwhile, in the real world, Jane, determined to gain custody of Abby, hires a group of vandals, including Abby’s babysitter Max, to break into the pizzeria. Her plan is to get Mike fired by making him look incompetent in his duties, thus accelerating her path to custody of Abby.
The following night, Mike meets Vanessa Shelly, a police officer who is familiar with the pizzeria’s dark history. Vanessa explains that the establishment had closed down in the 1980s after five children went missing under mysterious circumstances. Unbeknownst to Mike, the group of vandals Jane hired breaks into the building that same night. However, their fate is sealed as they encounter the animatronic mascots of the pizzeria—Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Mr. Cupcake—who kill the entire group, including Max.
After Max's disappearance, Mike decides to bring Abby with him to his next shift, hoping to keep her safe while he's at work. To Mike's surprise, the animatronics begin to befriend Abby. Mike soon discovers that these animatronics are possessed by the spirits of the missing children, who frequently reference a "yellow rabbit." As Mike pieces together the puzzle, the reality becomes even more unsettling.
On the fourth night, while Mike, Abby, and Vanessa are bonding with the animatronics, an accident occurs that leaves Abby injured. Frustrated and fearful for her safety, Mike asks Jane to babysit Abby while he returns to the pizzeria. He takes sleeping pills, hoping for more answers from his recurring dreams. In his sleep, the ghostly children appear once again and present Mike with a troubling proposition—they offer him the chance to reunite with Garrett forever, but only if he is willing to give up Abby. Initially tempted, Mike soon realizes the horrific implications of the offer and refuses. This decision leads to a violent confrontation, as Mike is attacked and strapped to the same torture device that claimed the life of the previous security guard. Barely escaping death, he is severely injured in the process, particularly by the animatronic Foxy.
Meanwhile, the animatronic Freddy—now damaged and possessed by the leader of the ghostly children—abducts Abby and brings her back to the pizzeria after killing Jane. Mike’s injuries are treated by Vanessa, who reveals a shocking truth: her father is William Afton, the serial killer responsible for the kidnappings and murders of Garrett and the other children. Afton had hidden the children’s bodies inside the animatronics, effectively trapping their souls, which he continues to control. Realizing that the animatronics plan to kill Abby so she can join them in the afterlife, Mike races against time to save her.
In a desperate battle, Mike manages to temporarily defeat the animatronics. However, Steve, the career counselor who had hired Mike, arrives at the scene wearing the infamous "yellow rabbit" suit, revealing himself to be none other than William Afton. Afton reactivates the animatronics and attacks Mike, overpowering him with ease. Vanessa tries to intervene but is gravely injured when Afton stabs her.
In a final bid to save Abby, Mike recalls that the animatronics respond to drawings. He instructs Abby to draw the true events that led to the children's deaths. With Mike’s help, Abby presents her drawing, which depicts Afton murdering the children. The animatronics, now seeing the truth, turn on Afton in a fit of rage. Mr. Cupcake bites into Afton's suit, triggering its deadly springlock mechanism. Afton is fatally wounded as the animatronics drag him away, leaving Mike and Abby to carry an unconscious Vanessa out of the collapsing building.
In the aftermath, Vanessa remains in a coma, recovering in a hospital, while Mike and Abby reconcile and attempt to resume their normal lives. Back at the abandoned pizzeria, the ghostly leader of the children watches a dying Afton, now trapped in his own suit, before leaving him to his grim fate.
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