FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2 (2025)

The first Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) faced an uphill battle adapting the mammoth, labyrinthine video game franchise. Its core fanbase consists of preteens who enjoy a storyline built around children being murdered and stuffed into pizzeria animatronics. If that concept is both too morbid and ridiculous, then Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 makes no effort to win naysayers over.

This is no slight to those fans, whose intellect is stimulated with each game entry offering ever more obfuscating backstory to be deciphered by game creator, and movie supervisor/screenwriter, Scott Cawthon. A veritable army of YouTubers pin red string across their timeline breakdowns; even Benoit Blanc would be at a loss after five nights at Freddy’s.

That is not to say these film adaptations are difficult to follow, as some agitated die-hards have accused us paid shills. The first did a perfectly adequate job of unravelling a satisfactory interpretation for all audiences. Anyone could follow the straightforward plotting that amounted to a guy killing kids because he could. The second video game is a prequel with a new protagonist. Some of the better aspects of the first film were the lead actors, so they remain in a sequel uncovering a similar buried history.

Audiences were equally bemused that this screen translation of the ‘scariest game in modern history’ had our protagonist sleeping through most nights at Freddy’s. As a defender of Five Nights at Freddy’s, I saw improvements to be made, despite the initial success. I even made a quick list of them after revisiting my first review to help with notes here. Unfortunately, not a single thing was ticked off. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is not a step backwards in time but in quality.

Starting with a flashback suggests exploration, but it’s really just introducing yet another character and more questions—a recurring theme in this franchise. This will be the primary antagonist, which would mean hitting the ground running… except the following hour resists all natural intention of starting the story proper.

One person too much blame will be set on is director Emma Tammi. The directing is not too dissimilar from the first; her last two films, FNAF and The Wind (2018), both demonstrate a measured, slow-burn approach to horror. Yet, so much time is belaboured here with characters reminiscing about their five nights at Freddy’s. This sounds like characters having dialogue, which is an ordinary film expectation. But imagine Scream 2 (1998) if heroine Sidney spent an entire hour of the runtime talking about the events of Scream (1996) before even noticing the new killer.

The cast do have enough thematic material to work with, though it neither elevates nor sinks their performances. Abby (Piper Rubio) has the strongest development, dealing with the complex selfishness of wanting her dead companions back instead of them being in a better place. At one point, she explains the events of the first film at school, which feels evocative of those YouTube videos.

Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) challenges her PTSD, moving past the apparent death of her abusive father (Matthew Lillard), with long-lasting ‘family values’ instilled in her childhood. In one instance, she freaks out during a very Smile (2022)-esque hallucination that would be slightly more affecting if not for the giant yellow rabbit in a spin class.

Mike (Josh Hutcherson) as the de facto protagonist strangely feels the most inert; tired from life in the first film, he’s now doubly exhausted from everything else. He looks after Abby and struggles to fully trust Vanessa—both valid motivations—but he noticeably steps back to let them drive the narrative.

While these three resist the call to adventure, ‘stuff’ must happen. FNAF introduced a handful of random people to show up and be killed off in one sequence, bearing next to no real consequence or reason other than the conceit that there are killer animatronics. FNAF 2 repeats this beat for beat, though at the very least it establishes some elements that are paid off later on. At this point, the only questions not raised by the sequel are: What are the stakes? What do the heroes have to overcome? Who is the villain and why? If the first two acts are slow, the third act induces whiplash as it hits the accelerator. Despite the serpentine nature of the games, exposition becomes clunkier than the animatronics. Characters come close to breaking the fourth wall in how rudimentary they lay out what is happening.

I complimented the horror in the first film as being a step above Goosebumps. One quick aside: almost all the jump scares are in the trailers which, again, does Tammi a disservice. Now the writing is a step below Goosebumps. And no knock against R.L. Stine, but when there are eight-hour FNAF explanation videos, this film could be summarised in eight seconds.

Every problem lies in the foundational screenplay. Co-writers of FNAF, Seth Cuddeback and Emma Tammi, are absent, leaving sole writing credit to Scott Cawthon. The training wheels are off and he’s ridden straight into a ditch. One example is the continued use of dream sequences. To offset the singular threat of killer restaurant mascots, a page torn from Freddy Krueger’s handbook has Mike confronting the ghost children in his sleep. This was effective not only for visual variety but also because Mike processed the loss of his brother through this. Mike straight up tells Vanessa it worked in the last film, so she should try it herself. Nothing is achieved other than shunting in another Easter egg for FNAF 3.

Jason Blum, producer and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, confidently assured audiences beforehand, “We didn’t have as many drafts of the script of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 as we did on the first movie.” We can tell.

The structural composition of the ending has to be condemned without spoilers. There’s no ending. Stuff happens and the credits roll. The film practically screams ‘everything will be answered in FNAF 3! Ticket pre-orders now!’ There are cliffhangers and there are unresolved stories. Imagine Scream 2 once more, enjoyable entertainment: the killers reveal themselves, credits immediately roll, and a chorus of young teens behind you cheer they cannot wait for Scream 3 (2000). Responses on social media already ask if we have ever seen the middle film in a trilogy structuredlike this. This is not It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019); this is putting a random episode of It: Welcome to Derry on the big screen and expecting a satisfactory standalone experience.

Scream is on my mind as Skeet Ulrich was added to this sequel’s cast, due in part to his memorable performance opposite Lillard in Scream. Fans went rabid at the significance, given the established backstory. Tammi took preventative measures and spoke about the promotional material, stating “their characters are not super interactive.” Which is to say they are in this for two minutes and do not share minutes. Yet another tease for FNAF 3 that would be less egregious if FNAF 2 did not tease it was happening here.

Five Nights at Freddy’s was a packed cinema with a palpable Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) atmosphere. There was communal joy to be found. This time around, a very excitable teen yelled to his friends that “the critics ARE lying! I knew it!” As someone who enjoys the video game franchise, I wish he had a better film to ardently defend. Whether or not this reaches the overwhelming box office success of the first, a sequel seems inevitable. There are eleven main game instalments and several spin-offs with varying degrees of lore significance. I worry that if they leave these films in the hands of the man who started it all, the following nights are certainly numbered.

USA • CANADA | 2025 | 104 MINUTES | 2.00:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

director: Emma Tammi.
writer: Scott Cawthon (based on his video game series).
starring: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Freddy Carter, Theodus Crane, Wayne Knight, Teo Briones, Mckenna Grace, Skeet Ulrich & Matthew Lillard.