FNAF Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Mike Schmidt has seen better days. Ever since losing his younger brother Garrett, the troubled adult has a hard time keeping a job. On top of it all, he’s the caretaker of Abby, his younger sister. Mike and Abby’s Aunt Jane believes she’s a better option for raising a kid.

It’s not until Mike accepts a job as a security guard for a shut down family restaurant that mysterious events start occurring. For instance, strange sounds play at different times. Then there are the animatronics who come alive after midnight. Mike starts to wonder if he’s bitten off more than he can chew.

Positive Elements: For all his flaws, Mike is a decent adult. He cares for Abby, taking her to school, and showing concern when she acts strangely. Once he realizes Abby is in danger, Mike sacrifices his own desires to save her. The siblings argue at times, but express their love for each other.

Abby is a compassionate little girl, often drawing pictures. Though she is naive about the animatronics (Freddy, Foxy, Chica, Cupcake, and Bonnie), her common sense kicks in during a tense moment. In the end, Abby’s picture drawing saves Mike and Vanessa from further hurt.

Vanessa is a kind soul, willing to help Mike save Abby. She’s ridden with guilt about past misdeeds and does her best to rectify them. Vanessa bandages Mike’s wounds and encourages him to let go of the past. She stands up to a villain, proving her loyalty to Mike and Abby.

Spiritual Content: Note: this section contains spoilers. Abby claims to have friends that she talks to. Those “friends'' are ghosts; (reminds you of The Sixth Sense doesn’t it)? It’s revealed that Mike and Abby are connected to the ghosts. In a dream sequence (repeated multiple times), Mike talks to them, asking of Garret’s whereabouts. The ghosts inflict pain on him, and those wounds show up in reality too.

The ghosts whisper Abby’s name on occasion, and show up at her house. They are the ones making the animatronics come to life.

Sexual Content: Mike and Vanessa form a connection, though it’s never explicitly played out. Mike holds her hand when she’s in a hospital bed. “Do you want to dance?” she teases in one scene.

Violence: FNAF fans and parents beware: this section is not for the faint of heart. Several characters (innocent and malicious) die here. Most of the deaths occur offscreen, but we witness the aftermath. One guy’s face is chewed on, another is beaten to death in a storage room. In both scenes, their screams are heard, and some blood is shown on the glass.

Characters trash the restaurant, breaking the glass and knocking over shelves. Another character has her head chopped off (shown briefly in a shadow). Mike tackles a guy and punches him repeatedly (to the horror of his son). One guy tries to escape whirring motors coming straight for his face (it’s implied he’s not successful). Mike is in the same situation later on, but manages to avoid it. 

In the dream sequences, the ghosts hurt Mike, giving him wounds. Vanessa patches them up, but Mike is hurt so bad, that he’s limping during an intense scene. He’s knocked unconscious, but revives shortly after. Cupcake gnaws on Mike’s leg (seen in a shadowdy light). He uses tasers to subdue the animatronics. One character offers to kill Mike, but Aunt Jane refuses his offer.

Abby is knocked backward after an electric shock (she’s unharmed). Foxy menacingly tries to hurt Abby as does Chica but both are stopped. (Spoiler Warning): An old springtrap is unstable; when Vanessa puts a broomstick in it, the trap snaps it in half. A character suffers a slow painful death as the springtrap malfunctions, (brief snippets showcase blood on his shirt and him groaning in pain). Aunt Jane is killed (offscreen) and one ghost says “She fell asleep.”

Language: One or two s-words, along with a small smattering of h—, a—, God’s name, and one use of “freakin’.”

Drugs/Alcohol: Mike takes sleeping pills, which knock him out often. Vanessa chucks the bottle into the river, but Mike garners more later. Abby mentions Aunt Jane “smells like cigarettes”

Other Negative Elements: Aunt Jane is manipulative: she pushes the subject of thinking she’s a better caretaker than Mike, refuses to let her lawyer leave during conversations, and claims Abby is “mentally unstable.” Jane rudely interrupts a school staff worker during a conversation. Max and some other guys are caught in her schemes as well. When Abby finds out Aunt Jane is babysitting her, she scribbles out Mike’s face in her pictures. Mike rudely snatches prescription pills from a pharmacist.

(Spoiler Warning): Yellow Rabbit is none other than William Afton, a serial killer who murdered the six children. Worst of all, he psychologically manipulates the animatronics by using a picture of him holding hands with children, making him seem friendly. The tables are turned on Afton in the final battle.

Conclusion: Five Nights at Freddy’s exists for the video game fans and delivers an exhilarating yet terrifying ride. Make no mistake, this film uses Easter eggs from the games that fans will pick up on. The story is captivating from the beginning and never lets up until the end.

Parents should think twice about letting their kids watch this film though. Because even though kids are in the movie, that doesn’t mean it’s suitable for your young ones. Jump scares and intense violence play a huge role here. The ghost children do kill people and Abby is almost added to the list. A dash of language appears as well. 

However, compared to other PG-13 horror films, the violence mostly takes place offscreen, and language is scarce. Five Nights at Freddy’s is one of the rare horror films that doesn’t push the content envelope. It has exceptional performances by Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games franchise), Elizabeth Lail (Mack and Rita), and Matthew Lillard (She’s All That, Trouble with the Curve).

Five Nights at Freddy’s has been around for a decade, starting as a video game. Fans waited that same amount of time for a film adaptation, and it paid off. Not only do the Easter Eggs give major hints, they also bring nostalgia to devoted fans. Even the animatronics are impressive and realistic.

Mike is not an easy character to root for at first. But he comes to realize that Abby, despite her flaws, is a caring sister. She saves both Mike and Vannesa’s lives by bringing a dark truth to light. The film somewhat echoes 1 John 2:8 (NIV): “Yet I am writing a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.”

As for Afton, there is a message in that too. Yes, he is a serial killer, and the film doesn’t condone his behavior. However, he was keeping children in the dark about what he did. Once the animatronics turn against him, Afton has lost control over them. This scene brings to mind Numbers 32:23 (NCV): “But if you don’t do these things, you will be sinning against the LORD; know for sure that you will be punished for your sin.”

We live in a culture where darkness is rife. While it’s impossible to count the many sins of our fallen world, several of us might notice how the truth is swept under the rug. People in power threaten others when their views or ideologies are questioned. It’s super easy to justify and back people up when their actions are anything but right. 

But nothing, not even the sins committed in secret, stays hidden forever. Once William Afton’s misdeeds are revealed, Freddy and his gang are ready to finish him off. Though the scene is disturbing, it drives home a solid point: sin is a self-destructive gamble. Our self-serving actions, while they feel great in the moment, result in a fiasco. Exposing them is the hard, but necessary step towards healing.

Five Nights at Freddy’s is a faithful adaptation to the video game franchise. Fans will, no doubt, breathe a sigh of relief that Hollywood hasn’t strayed from the source material. Although the intense violence and brief language need to be considered, FNAF is a terrifying delectation for devoted fans.