Five Nights at Freddy’s is such a uniquely modern cultural phenomenon — a multi-media franchise born from the lightning-in-a-bottle success of a series of independent horror games designed by a single mind: Scott Cawthon. As horror games, they excelled at creating a hostile atmosphere and, by design, were minimalist enough to spark players’ curiosity about the larger narrative behind the killer animatronics. The story of FNAF has been consumed not just through the games themselves, but also through fan theory videos interpreting the franchise’s cryptic imagery. In that sense, there is almost no other mainstream brand like FNAF; its storytelling feels indebted to decades of creepypasta and spooky internet folklore.
A horror movie adaptation was inevitable. Produced by Blumhouse, Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) boasted direct involvement from Cawthon himself in writing the script, beloved talent like Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard, and highly detailed life-sized animatronics developed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Despite being a financial success, even with its day-and-date streaming release on Peacock, the adaptation failed to capture the essence of its source material. It wasn’t atmospheric or creepy, had very little to do with the game’s lore, and it was mostly filled with dead air. Two years later comes Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025), a sequel that promises to do right by the fans.
Ultimately, Blumhouse’s sequel proves that it cares little about quality; instead, it cynically jingles the game’s imagery in front of its audience as if they were mindless children.
Scott Cawthon’s Script is Juvenile and Incomprehensible
Set one year after the events of the first film, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 reacquaints us with former security guard Mike Schmidt (Hutcherson), his little sister Abby (Piper Rubio), and Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail) as they struggle to heal and move on from their traumatic encounter with Vanessa’s father, the serial killer William Afton (Lillard). After feeling herself cut off from the child spirits within the machines she befriended at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, Abby copes with being a social outcast at school. But when she gets a distressed call from these spirits on her toy “Faztalker,” Abby sneaks out to reunite with her animatronic friends, accidentally unleashing the dark secrets of the original Freddy Fazbear’s location.
Courtesy of Universal
Much of FNAF 2 has been kept under wraps by Blumhouse’s marketing campaign. Without spoiling anything, significant creative liberties have been taken to retrofit the game’s lore into the film’s plot. This would be fine if it were in the service of thrilling adaptational choices. Original creator Scott Cawthon returns as the sole screenwriter this time around. While there is generally more going on than in the uneventful first movie, the sequel’s writing displays a different kind of incompetence. Cawthon establishes multiple rules and subplots only to later completely disregard them. It feels as though his screenplay was never given any passes before shooting out of laziness, as the sequel to a beloved IP is bound to rake in cash.
Josh Hutcherson Literally Acts Out a Five Nights at Freddy’s Game Level
Character motivations are extremely inconsistent, sometimes shifting from scene to scene in unintentionally hilarious ways. The dialogue is extremely expository, the film’s pacing and tone are out of control, and, aside from jump scares, the attempts at horror lack any bite. Although logic is not something I personally value in a movie, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 breaks all suspension of disbelief, resulting in a sequel that feels like creepypasta fan fiction written by a 14-year-old. With no sense of actual fear being instilled in viewers (unless you’re an actual toddler), FNAF 2 is another example of a video game adaptation that captures little to nothing about what made the source material popular to begin with.
What the sequel does prioritize is more screen time with the animatronics, both old and new. Once again, the work done in collaboration with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is technically impressive. The film’s best sequence is also straight from the game: Mike is forced to manage the pizzeria’s security room and, in real time, acts out the gameplay of Five Nights at Freddy’s, keeping track of the animatronics while trying to disable them remotely. He even has a Freddy mask to trick the animatronics if they get too close, a mechanic taken directly from the second game! This part only lasts about 20 minutes, but it’s a fun glimpse into what a better version of these movies could be.
Poorly Directed Scares and a Cheap Cliffhanger Ending
One of the biggest issues is that Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is simply not scary. There is a more serious attempt at horror than in the first film. However, it’s mainly presented through jump scares and vague dream sequences that quickly grow tedious and utterly boring. The bone-chilling atmosphere of the games is absent as well, even when presented with what are supposed to be terrifying animatronics. FNAF 2 presents villains hyped up as huge threats, like the Toy versions of Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. The fan-favorite animatronic Mangle and the ever-so creepy Marionette are introduced, too, but they largely do nothing and are easily warded off.
Yes, this is gateway horror for children. But considering how genuinely dark the source material is, it’s bizarre how toothless these film adaptations truly are. To make things much worse, FNAF 2 abruptly ends as soon as it’s really getting started. A huge confrontation is set up in the final moments as Toy Chica, Toy Freddy, and Toy Bonnie surround our protagonists, and the surprise main villain (who has only appeared once before this point) reveals his role in the story. Then, they are immediately defeated! The last shot is meant to be a major cliffhanger ending, yet there’s nothing to speculate over — just an awkward cut to credits with a silly final image to send you home.
FNAF Fans Deserve Better
Despite all the returning talent and the hardest efforts of a passionate puppetry studio, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is a soulless cash grab. Hollywood studios that have bought into the recent wave of video game film adaptations should be cautious about the direction they are taking these projects in. Outside of the well-rounded success of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, video game movies like Super Mario and now Minecraft are struggling to find a balance between quality and fan service. “Chicken Jockey” memes won’t rack up large box office numbers a second time. Or, as Blumhouse is about to learn, the viral stunt casting of Megan Fox as Toy Chica might not get you far in returns, either.
Proclaimed FNAF fans largely responded positively to the first movie, and they will likely enjoy this one as well. With that said, they still deserve better than Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a sequel that mindlessly presents recognizable iconography as a substitute for a passable movie. It was made not to entertain, but to lazily appeal to the urges of younger audiences who wouldn’t know any better about quality storytelling. The motivation behind this film was to serve as a product for the brand first before anything else. No, I am not expecting a FNAF movie to be high art, but I am confident that a good horror film could be made from the source material with the right vision.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 hits theaters on December 5!
Release Date: December 5, 2025.
Directed by Emma Tammi.
Written by Scott Cawthon.
Based on Five Nights at Freddy’s by Scott Cawthon.
Produced by Scott Cawthon & Jason Blum.
Executive Producers: Emma Tammi, Russell Binder, Marc Mostman, Beatriz Sequeira, & Christopher H. Warner.
Main Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Matthew Lillard, Theodus Crane, Skeet Ulrich, McKenna Grace, Teo Briones, Freddy Carter, Wayne Knight, Kellen Goff, Megan Fox, & Matthew Patrick, aka MatPat.
Cinematographer: Lyn Moncrief.
Composers: The Newton Brothers.
Editors: Timothy Alverson & Derek Larsen.
Production Companies: Blumhouse Productions & Scott Cawthon Productions.
Distributor: Universal Pictures.
Runtime: 104 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
