Five Nights at Freddy’s Review
Izzy Astuto ‘25 / Entertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Spoilers Ahead
On August 8th, 2014, indie video game developer Scott Cawthon released the first Five Nights At Freddy’s game. His previous game, Chipper & Sons Lumber Co, received negative reviews because its protagonist, a young beaver, was said to look like a scary animatronic. Cawthon leaned into this criticism, creating a horror game that was meant to terrify. This decision was the best one for Cawthon to make, as it would turn out, as the abbreviated FNAF would become one of the most well-known modern horror franchises. It was only a matter of time before a movie would follow the plethora of games and books Cawthon had released over the years.
Directed by Emma Tammi, when this 2023 movie was announced, immediately it had many expectations to fulfill. FNAF isn’t just a regular video game, but instead a cultural touchstone that shaped many Gen-Zers childhoods. Countless hours of fan theories, art, and fiction have been dedicated to this one IP, and a movie was set to be the culmination of all that.
Within the first few minutes of the movie, I knew things were off to a bad start. It opens on a security guard of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, a popular Chuck E Cheese’s-esque establishment that has been shut down for some time. He runs frantically through the halls, trying to escape from something. For long-term fans of the franchise, it’s clear the animatronics are out to play. However, his death itself, where he is threatened by a face mask creeping closer and closer fixed with whirring razorblades, is more reminiscent of the Saw movies than Cawthon’s own games.
Perhaps this scene would have packed more of a punch with crowds if Markiplier, a popular gaming YouTuber, had been able to play this role as initially intended. After the movie was released, rumors spread that the beloved creator was supposed to be the original security guard, but had conflicts on another movie set, The Iron Lung. Fans mourned this loss, such as MilleRatedR on Twitter.
Markiplier was one of the many YouTubers who initially helped to popularize the game. Another large name in the community was able to be cast, however. Matthew Patrick, also known as Game Theory on YouTube, shows up as a waiter in a throwaway scene so quick one could miss it, if not for the inevitable shrieks that fill movie theatres as nerds everywhere realize Matpat is on their screens.
More importantly are our main cast, namely Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard. The standout stars here each bring unique spins to their characters of Michael Schmidt and William Afton, respectively. Hutcherson plays Mike appropriately pathetic for his situation, desperately trying to provide for his younger sister while constantly regretting his younger brother’s kidnapping from years ago. This added depth to Mike works well for a screen adaptation, coloring in a relatively blank slate. However, certain canonical revelations are done away with. In the books, it’s revealed that Mike is William Afton’s son, but Matthew Lillard isn’t given a Darth Vader moment at the end of the film, implying that family trees may have been rewritten here.
Lillard still undeniably steals the show, though. His Afton is subtle, but from his introduction scene, it is clear he’s done his homework. Before it is revealed that he is the sinister creator of the establishment, Afton is simply the man who gets Mike his job as a security guard for Freddy’s. He stutters over his words, imitating this character at the beginning of the first game. Dubbed Phone Guy, he explains how the establishment was shut down after a mysterious incident, and now just needs to be watched during the night, to make sure no vagrants get in. What he doesn’t tell him, though, is just who inhabits the pizzeria.
Coming into this movie, I was most looking forward to the animatronics. What would these giant robots look like? How would they move, and how would the movie decide to characterize them? The end result was surprisingly solid! The animatronics, while not fleshed out much, were fun, and their desire for friendship was shockingly sweet. Visually, they were much more impressive than expected, and their movement was jerky, yet fluid, successfully horrifying the masses. Chica’s cupcake jumping at unsuspecting burglars and eating their faces was a delightful moment and fun for the whole family!
I loved this movie. I thought it was a great interpretation of the franchise that I’ve loved for so long. However, it feels like an odd approach to the franchise. The movie seems very self-contained, ending with plot points that don’t occur until much later in the original video game series. It feels like it could be much more fan-forward, or higher budget, or simply based more in the timeline of the games. This could be because of some supposed drama behind the scenes with Scott Cawthon’s own intentions for the future of the franchise. MatPat discusses in a video breakdown of his experience on set how involved Cawthon was in the movie, even over its own director. Jason Blum, founder of Blumhouse, who produced this movie, said the same— “Scott Cawthon had a very firm hand on this film, from everything through script writing, pre-production, production, post-production, marketing.”
Hopefully, this movie has a sequel, rooted in the events of the next games. The movie’s ending suggests that there won’t be, however. Even if there is one, it seems as if it would be moving in a new direction, giving Cawthon the chance to experiment in ways he hasn’t before. Whether or not this will be a successful move for the series is something only time will tell, I suppose.