Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
As Youtube was exploding in popularity, multiple games found instant success and viral status directly tied to content being made from those playing the game blew up in numbers. One of the biggest successes of this period, undoubtedly, was Five Nights at Freddy's. Released in 2014 and created by Scott Cawthon, what initially seemed like a simple survival horror game of a night security guard trying to survive 5 nights in a closed pizzeria with murderous animatronics quickly grew to take on a complex lore and devoted following that has seen a franchise bloom including the release of over 14 games and over 24 books with no end in sight. Almost immediately after the release of the initial game in 2014, the talks of a feature adaptation of the story was discussed with Warner Bros. Pictures officially announcing their acquiring of the property the next year in 2015. After 8 years of development, and a production jump to Blumhouse Productions, Five Nights at Freddy's finally has debuted on the big screen with Emma Tammi attached as director.
In perhaps its most respectable feature, it is clear that Five Nights at Freddy's is a film made for fans of the franchise it belongs to. Rather than trying to radically change the narrative or world of the game to make it more accessible or specific to newcomers who haven't played the game, the film embraces its own lore and celebrates what the franchise has become. From cameos featuring YouTubers who have directly influenced the popularity of the franchise to the behind the scenes input from Cawthon himself, this is a film that respects its fan base and, as seen by the box office results and audience reception, this has paid off. Considering the sheer amount of video game adaptations to fail when it comes to this, it is at least refreshing to see this mindset be brought to an adaptation. Between this film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Sonic the Hedgehog, it is hopeful that this direction is becoming more of the standard and the once cursed view of video game adaptations can finally be broken, specifically by the fans of the games who have the most to gain from these projects.
There is also an undeniable base craft and effort here that is easy to appreciate. Especially in the genre of horror adaptations, it isn't a guarantee to see things like strong production design or an attempt at finding a truly compelling emotional story. In Five Nights at Freddy's, these pushes feel clear. The production design especially is the highlight of the film with Marc Fisichella doing a wonderful job creating physical sets and characters that feel more effective considering their tangible physicality. When a character is genuinely physically standing in a scene, the presence and weight is drastically better than if the character was just made of CGI. It feels scary that these are physical objects that can move around in and touch the world around them.
It is a shame, therefore, that the film ultimately underwhelms with their presentation of these wonderful characters. Constantly devolving into using CGI to create jump-scares and rapid movement, the film wastes the potential of this rather flawless production design and produces a scary experience that is cheap and ineffective. Even these moments fail to use the basic iconography of these characters with the prime example being Foxy. Foxy's gimmick is his speed. Rather than the other animatronics which will slowly sneak up and stalk their victims, Foxy will run right at the player. Naturally, the visual of a large dilapidated animatronic fox feels like a strong choice as a horror visual but the film fails to deliver this or any other truly great moment of horror.
When it comes to narrative, the film is also rather tedious. While the film can be praised for its respect shown to the Five Nights at Freddy's fans and world, the actual base narrative plot of the film is awful. The film centers around the playable character from the first video game in the series, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson). In this telling of the story, Schmidt is struggling to keep up with raising his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio). Breathing down his neck is his cruel aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) who wants to take custody of Abby. To stay afloat, Schmidt takes a night security job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza where he meets a police officer named Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) and learns about the animatronics that roam the restaurant each night. While this feels like a strong base for the film, the movie pivots to focus on Schmidt's dream therapy where he is trying to remember details about his brother's kidnapping that happened when they were kids. This plot takes up multiple extended sequences of the film and ends up being a convoluted way to tie Schmidt's character into the lore of what is happening at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
This plot choice is a disaster. Not only are the emotional beats of this story incredibly flat, but the actual logic is actually absurd at points. The film has no direction or focus as it smashes through its 109-minute runtime with no grace or care. The film thinks through no choice as it rapidly introduces characters, kills characters, and highlights prolonged dream sequences that feel inept both in narrative and execution. For those who have no idea or context for what the Five Nights at Freddy's lore is, there is no hope for a rewarding viewing experience here. Even the basic timeline of the film often makes no sense. These are basic fundamental pieces of making a competent film, yet are things Five Nights at Freddy's completely fails at.
This confusion continues into the film's tone and outlook on what this story is on a fundamental level. Possibly due to the amount of development put into the film's concept and script, the narrative often feels like a jumbled mess of ideas. While there is the emotional core within the film centered around Schmidt's trauma, there is the added conflict brought by his Aunt, a conflict thrown away without any real weight or substance. There is the connection to the Five Nights at Freddy's lore, but this feels forced and isn't established within the actual main narrative of the feature. The film doesn't even seem sure with how it wants to handle its animatronics. While established as villains, the characters face multiple acts of recontextualization leading to an incoherent presence. Nothing about the film feels succinct or coherent when it comes to building a single strong voice or identity.
The performances are equally weak. While Josh Hutcherson tries to deliver an emotionally worthy performance, the goofy execution of his key scenes sweep the rug from under the young star who continues to look for his true breakout hit following his work in The Hunger Games. Both Elizabeth Lail and Mary Stuart Masterson are awful in supporting roles leaving possibly the best performance of the entire feature to come from the young Piper Rubio. Rubio often is the one to bring any sense of light and authentic feeling energy to whatever role she is in, two things the rest of the film struggles to create.
While it is simply wrong to pass Five Nights at Freddy's off as being another lazy horror adaptation, the film is clearly a monstrous mess. Terribly made, the film undercuts its own successful elements to create a dull and lifeless viewing experience that is neither scary nor engaging. At least the fans of the video game franchise have found something to appreciate within the film as otherwise, it is sure to disappoint nearly all parties.
In perhaps its most respectable feature, it is clear that Five Nights at Freddy's is a film made for fans of the franchise it belongs to. Rather than trying to radically change the narrative or world of the game to make it more accessible or specific to newcomers who haven't played the game, the film embraces its own lore and celebrates what the franchise has become. From cameos featuring YouTubers who have directly influenced the popularity of the franchise to the behind the scenes input from Cawthon himself, this is a film that respects its fan base and, as seen by the box office results and audience reception, this has paid off. Considering the sheer amount of video game adaptations to fail when it comes to this, it is at least refreshing to see this mindset be brought to an adaptation. Between this film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Sonic the Hedgehog, it is hopeful that this direction is becoming more of the standard and the once cursed view of video game adaptations can finally be broken, specifically by the fans of the games who have the most to gain from these projects.
There is also an undeniable base craft and effort here that is easy to appreciate. Especially in the genre of horror adaptations, it isn't a guarantee to see things like strong production design or an attempt at finding a truly compelling emotional story. In Five Nights at Freddy's, these pushes feel clear. The production design especially is the highlight of the film with Marc Fisichella doing a wonderful job creating physical sets and characters that feel more effective considering their tangible physicality. When a character is genuinely physically standing in a scene, the presence and weight is drastically better than if the character was just made of CGI. It feels scary that these are physical objects that can move around in and touch the world around them.
It is a shame, therefore, that the film ultimately underwhelms with their presentation of these wonderful characters. Constantly devolving into using CGI to create jump-scares and rapid movement, the film wastes the potential of this rather flawless production design and produces a scary experience that is cheap and ineffective. Even these moments fail to use the basic iconography of these characters with the prime example being Foxy. Foxy's gimmick is his speed. Rather than the other animatronics which will slowly sneak up and stalk their victims, Foxy will run right at the player. Naturally, the visual of a large dilapidated animatronic fox feels like a strong choice as a horror visual but the film fails to deliver this or any other truly great moment of horror.
When it comes to narrative, the film is also rather tedious. While the film can be praised for its respect shown to the Five Nights at Freddy's fans and world, the actual base narrative plot of the film is awful. The film centers around the playable character from the first video game in the series, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson). In this telling of the story, Schmidt is struggling to keep up with raising his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio). Breathing down his neck is his cruel aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) who wants to take custody of Abby. To stay afloat, Schmidt takes a night security job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza where he meets a police officer named Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) and learns about the animatronics that roam the restaurant each night. While this feels like a strong base for the film, the movie pivots to focus on Schmidt's dream therapy where he is trying to remember details about his brother's kidnapping that happened when they were kids. This plot takes up multiple extended sequences of the film and ends up being a convoluted way to tie Schmidt's character into the lore of what is happening at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
This plot choice is a disaster. Not only are the emotional beats of this story incredibly flat, but the actual logic is actually absurd at points. The film has no direction or focus as it smashes through its 109-minute runtime with no grace or care. The film thinks through no choice as it rapidly introduces characters, kills characters, and highlights prolonged dream sequences that feel inept both in narrative and execution. For those who have no idea or context for what the Five Nights at Freddy's lore is, there is no hope for a rewarding viewing experience here. Even the basic timeline of the film often makes no sense. These are basic fundamental pieces of making a competent film, yet are things Five Nights at Freddy's completely fails at.
This confusion continues into the film's tone and outlook on what this story is on a fundamental level. Possibly due to the amount of development put into the film's concept and script, the narrative often feels like a jumbled mess of ideas. While there is the emotional core within the film centered around Schmidt's trauma, there is the added conflict brought by his Aunt, a conflict thrown away without any real weight or substance. There is the connection to the Five Nights at Freddy's lore, but this feels forced and isn't established within the actual main narrative of the feature. The film doesn't even seem sure with how it wants to handle its animatronics. While established as villains, the characters face multiple acts of recontextualization leading to an incoherent presence. Nothing about the film feels succinct or coherent when it comes to building a single strong voice or identity.
The performances are equally weak. While Josh Hutcherson tries to deliver an emotionally worthy performance, the goofy execution of his key scenes sweep the rug from under the young star who continues to look for his true breakout hit following his work in The Hunger Games. Both Elizabeth Lail and Mary Stuart Masterson are awful in supporting roles leaving possibly the best performance of the entire feature to come from the young Piper Rubio. Rubio often is the one to bring any sense of light and authentic feeling energy to whatever role she is in, two things the rest of the film struggles to create.
While it is simply wrong to pass Five Nights at Freddy's off as being another lazy horror adaptation, the film is clearly a monstrous mess. Terribly made, the film undercuts its own successful elements to create a dull and lifeless viewing experience that is neither scary nor engaging. At least the fans of the video game franchise have found something to appreciate within the film as otherwise, it is sure to disappoint nearly all parties.