Scott Cawthon’s nine-year-old prophecy, “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” continues to appeal to the youth today with its intricate lore and new development. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a horror-survival video game, in the perspective of a security guard trying to survive five nights at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, which is infested with evil animatronics.
Cawthon released the first “Five Nights at Freddy’s” game on Aug. 8, 2014, and its sequel, “Five Nights at Freddy’s Two,” just three months later. In under a year, it became one of the most widespread games online. It continued to gain popularity as Cawthon released “Five Nights at Freddy’s” three and four in 2015. Cawthon’s games began to alter the gaming community, sparking theories about the game’s mysterious deeper meaning.
As this idea advances, Blumhouse Productions’ new movie “Five Nights at Freddy’s” adds no further insight to the advanced lore Cawthon has developed with his 20-game franchise. In fact, the movie itself hardly had any theories referenced at all. Released on Oct. 27, 2023, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” let down many of its nostalgic fans with its unfamiliar storyline.
The main character of the movie is Mike Schmidt, played by Josh Hutcherson, who applies as a night guard for Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. The storyline focuses more on Mike’s life rather than his experience as a security guard.
The movie’s writing was disappointing; although the writers needed to change things from the game to keep it age-appropriate and original, the plot line was not true to what the original games are about. There were certain parts of the movie that were too far from the game’s plotline.
Additionally, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is best known for its jump scares, and there were hardly any in the movie. The acting was lousy as well. Considering both Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail being the movie’s largest names, it was quite disappointing to see the drastic contrast of their prior works to their acting in this movie. Though it is rated PG-13, they could have done an immensely better job with acting, while still keeping it appropriate for children.
Cawthon always produces his work with a purpose, so he may have had the intent of making the movie different from the games. There were plot twists at the end, and it definitely spooks some of the younger audience. The writers were also creative with incorporating many characters from the game. Considerably, it was a fun watch for those who do not hold such sentimental value for the game.
