“Five Nights at Freddy’s” Review

Title screen for "Five Nights at Freddy's," a film now available on Peacock and in theaters. Photo by Jazi Khraishi '26

Since the release of the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” video game in 2016, fans have anxiously awaited for a film adaptation. The film recently came out on Oct. 27 with a mix of reviews from dedicated fans.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” was directed by Emma Tammi and is about the arcade “Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria,” which was shut down when children started to go missing due to mysterious circumstances. The film’s main antagonists are animatronics named Freddy, Foxy, Chica and Bonnie, who are possessed by ghost children haunting the shut-down pizzeria.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” release has been met with mixed reviews from fans, some claiming that the film was what they were hoping for, while others believed that it was cheesy and should have been more scary. All of the fans, myself included, were already nervous about the release of the film when the rating was PG-13 instead of R.

Watching the film from the perspective of one of those fans who have been waiting for this since they discovered the video game franchise, I understand both sides of the debate. The film had a lot of aspects taken from the game that I really enjoyed and had some aspects that had me cringing.

The first half had me at the edge of my seat with excitement. Watching one of my favorite franchises come to life on the big screen was something I can’t put into words. The feeling of disappointment started to creep up when the film hit the halfway point.

The most disappointing scene of the film was when the animatronics and the characters Mike, Venessa, and Abby built a fort. This scene includes a montage and generic pop music in the background and, overall, was a strange way to build empathy for the animatronics.

The film’s popularity also sprung from the casting. The main character in the film is Mike Schmidt, who is played by Josh Hutcherson, known for his role as Peeta in the popular series “The Hunger Games.” Hutcherson did an inadequate job of playing the damaged brother who was left to raise his little sister and delivered some cringe-worthy line. The performances I was most impressed by were Matthew Lillard and Piper Rubio, who made her debut in this film. Every time Lillard came on the screen, I knew there would be an amazing performance out of him with hilarious line delivery.

The most impressive part of the movie was the design of the animatronics. The animatronics were made by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which is known for making puppets for “The Muppets” and creatures for the film “Labyrinth.”

Beyond looking at this film from a fan perspective, the directing choices they made for this film and the camera work did an amazing way of showing the character's emotions instead of telling us. When a character was in distress, the camera work either became shaky or a little warped. The camera work throughout the film did an exemplary job of building suspense in the audience.

One of the best parts of the film was the music choice composed by The Newton Brothers. The opening scene of the film had an incredible opening song called “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” composed by The Newton Brothers, and set the tone for the film’s amazing opening. The music throughout the film created an anxious feeling that made the audience wonder what was going to happen next, which is exactly the feeling a person should get when playing or watching anything “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”

Although this film disappointed some fans, most were very grateful to be able to see the film after waiting seven years. Some scenes were cringe-worthy, but I look forward to seeing if Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions decide to continue a film franchise based on “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”