This article contains spoilers for Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Highlights
- The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie stays true to the deep narrative of the video game series while taking some creative liberties.
- The film follows Mike, a security guard at a haunted pizzeria, as he uncovers the dark secrets behind the animatronics and the kidnappings that took place.
- The ending sets up potential future installments, with hints at the return of the antagonist and the exploration of other locations and characters in the FNAF universe.
Hollywood has adapted many video games into movies and TV shows to varying degrees of success. Just in time for Halloween 2023, Five Nights at Freddy’s received the cinematic treatment. Scott Cawthon created the video game of the same name that puts players into the role of a security guard watching over a rundown party venue similar to Chuck E. Cheese. On the surface, the first few video games don’t appear to be much more than “survive the night” games. However, there’s a very deep narrative taking place in each of the games that makes the series perfect for a cinematic adaptation.
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie does well to follow the main beats of the game’s narrative despite the filmmakers taking a few liberties here and there. A security guard works at a small children’s pizzeria, animatronics come to life, and a looming sense of fear never fades. The small twist at the end of the film puts everything into perspective and elevates the rest of the movie.
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What’s the Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie About?
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie follows Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a mall security guard haunted by the traumatic kidnapping of his brother Garrett. Mike remains hyper-focused on other kids to prevent the same thing that happened to his brother. Unfortunately, this gets him in trouble when he mistakes a dad struggling with his son for a kidnapper. That’s how Mike lands his new job as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, an old, decrepit children’s party venue that closed down in the ’80s.
As if losing his job only to end up at a haunted pizzeria isn’t bad enough, Mike also fights to retain custody of his younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). However, his grief only gets in the way, posing obstacle after obstacle for him to overcome. Mike uses his dreams as a means to relive the tragic event from his childhood in hopes of gleaning new details about the kidnapper. This pushes him further away from his sister despite genuinely caring about her, and it only makes his aunt’s case for taking custody of Abby stronger.
The initial creepiness of Mike’s new job gradually diminishes as the haunted animatronics that come to life appear friendly, especially toward Abby, after Mike has no choice but to bring her to work with him. The spirits of the children possessing Freddy and the other animatronics infiltrate Mike’s lucid dreams and make him an offer he can’t refuse. They promise answers about Garrett’s kidnapper, even going as far as offering to give Mike his brother and family back in exchange for Abby.
Just as Mike declines the offer, he wakes up to find that he’s strapped in a chair with an animatronic mask inching closer to rip his face apart. His friend, a local police officer, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), rescues him and tells him everything about Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. That’s when the real culprit behind everything becomes clear.
What Happens at the End of Five Nights at Freddy’s?
Mike learns that the creator of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, William Afton (Matthew Lillard), used to take children into the backroom of the pizzeria and kill them by stuffing them into the mechanical mascots of his business. This made the animatronics and the children’s souls one and the same. From there on, William manipulated and influenced the children with drawings to get what he wanted. What he wanted by the end of the movie was a new spirit to inhabit another mascot. His prime candidate was Abby, but Mike wasn’t about to let that happen.
Mike’s encounter with William Afton at the film’s end is personal on several levels. Mike, along with the audience, learns that William Afton is the same man who gave Mike the job at Freddy Fazbear’s, Steve Raglan. Additionally, he’s Vanessa’s dad and the same man who kidnapped and killed Garrett all those years ago.
William, dressed in a hybrid animatronic suit of a yellow bunny, pummels Mike with ease until his daughter stops him. Proving that William has compassion for nobody, he stabs Vanessa. William tries to continue his beating on Mike, but Abby thwarts him by drawing her own picture that tells the other animatronics the truth about what happened to them. They waste no time turning on their creator, forcing the spring traps in his suit to clamp shut and impale him. This traps him in the suit forever and incapacitates him.
With no fight left in him, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy drag Afton out of the main parlor as the building collapses all around them. Mike and Abby rescue Vanessa and make their escape. The final scene with Afton shows him locked in a backroom, bleeding to death. Meanwhile, Vanessa recovers in a hospital bed, and Mike and Abby enjoy a family dinner together as they grow closer than ever.
What Does the Ending Mean for its Cinematic Future?
There are easter eggs littered throughout the whole Five Nights at Freddy’s movie that can be taken as either fan service or potential hints at future installments to the movie. The yellow bunny costume Afton wears at the end of the film is the Springtrap character that’s not seen until the third game. This could hint that William will be back in a sequel as a haunted animatronic like Freddy and the others. The Co-Writer and Director, Emma Tammi, said as much in an interview with TheWrap, saying, “If we are lucky, and knock on wood audiences like this first one, we’ll be able to continue on that storyline in the next movie.”
Additionally, the Vanessa character could very well be the same antagonistic security guard Vanessa from Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach. Audiences saw her as Mike’s friend in the first film, but her whole outlook might be different after she wakes in the hospital. There’s also the case of Garrett and all the other children Afton murdered. He most definitely killed more than the five spirits introduced in the first film, which could lead the movies to different locations.
I just got cast in a movie called ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s. It’s very fun. It’s a three-picture deal with Universal and Blumhouse.
Matthew Lillard appeared on the WeeklyMTG podcast to talk about Magic: The Gathering before Five Nights at Freddy’s began filming and said, “I just got cast in a movie called ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s. It’s very fun. It’s a three-picture deal with Universal and Blumhouse.” Between his and Tammi’s comments, the Five Nights at Freddy’s cinematic future looks positive, especially considering how well-received the movie has been amongst FNAF fans.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Released in 2014, the first game in the Five Nights At Freddy’s franchise was a smashing success that sparked several more games to be made in the series. Developed by Scott Cawthon, Five Nights At Freddy’s is a point-and-click horror game set in a haunted children’s restaurant where players assume the role of the nighttime security guard, keeping an eye on the once-friendly animatronics that come to life once the restaurant closes.
- Franchise
- Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
- Released
- August 8, 2014
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