So, it’s come to this, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. The first movie was interesting enough considering that I knew nothing of the lore. This second attempt is not good. I don’t write many reviews where I thoroughly dislike a film. And it turns out that, even here, there are a few bright spots, keeping it out contention for the worst movie of 2025.

• Directed by: Emma Tammi
• Written by: Scott Cawthon
• Starring: Josh Hutcherson. Piper Rubio. Elizabeth Lail

I like when movies start by saying, “F you, Ghoul”, and nothing does this better than a photosensitivity warning.  This did not start my experience off on the right foot. Neither did the visually interesting but credibility straining opening sequence.

The Bad

The dialogue in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is terrible, which is disappointing since there are some great actors here. Characters spend a lot of time explaining their motivation, their feelings, you know, basic plot devices.  Things that don’t really need to be explained get lengthy dialogue, and bad lines get repeated. Josh Hutcherson can make a lot of this work because he has a natural likeability. He’s one of the bright spots.

There are also some ridiculous plot devices forced upon a story that really just wants, or rather needs, to put our characters in the path of the animatronics. This highlights the real problem with the world of Five Nights at Freddy’s. When the world the movie took place in was isolated to the pizzeria and a small cast, the need for logic was less strenuous.

Worldbuilding in the Worst Way

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 introduces a larger world for the pizzeria to exist in, including a town that for some reason holds a festival to celebrate the defunct pizzeria. Of all the bizarre things that occur in this movie, that one piece has to be the most credibility straining.  This is, after all, the equivalent of a Chucky Cheese where a kid got murdered. Yes, they give a bit of an explanation for why the town would do this. No, it doesn’t make sense.  

There is also a science fair. This is an event that is treated with the seriousness and competitiveness of a state sports championship.  In high school, I went to the state level science fair. This required me to place at school and district level. I got honorable mention, and my project involved experimenting on the behaviors of worms. At no point did any of those events have anywhere near this level of stress or hype, even at the state level. Side note: if in high school, your peers think you torture worms for fun, they do not want to hang out with you.

 I would love to believe that there is a world where a science fair gets this level of attention, but the script didn’t do enough heavy lifting to make it plausible in this world.  

The Plot

Ok, so to recap the actual plot: William Afton was killing children and putting their souls into animatronics. His daughter is dealing with the lasting trauma of her childhood and her unwilling involvement in his evil. Meanwhile Abby, who has not gotten any smarter between the first movie and the second, is missing her friends, the dead kids possessing animatronics, and gets involved in the evil haunting the first, original Freddy’s Pizzeria.

It also wants us to accept some absolutely wild plot convenience. I know I usually don’t spoil things, but there isn’t enough to spoil here. Be warned anyway.

Spoiler Warning

Vanessa Afton has been keeping the soul of Charlotte, one of her father’s victims and now the Marionette, asleep and harmless in the original Freddys. This is something she never mentions, feels the need to check on, or address until it has to happen to move the plot along.  It’s the least organic reveal I’ve seen in a while.

This is the best example of a “things happen” movie ever.  There are no character arcs to speak of. No challenges are faced that cause any character growth. Mike starts out not fully trusting Vanessa and is hesitant to be in a relationship with her until she fully addresses her past. Throughout the entire movie, she continues to conceal her past from him. This happens mostly so there can be a third-act shock reveal that probably didn’t shock anyone who played the game or had a brain.

She gets mad that he says he wants to fix her. Now ordinarily, that phrase should raise all the red flags in any relationship. This movie wants us to ignore the fact that the little girl raised by a serial killer who dressed up like a yellow bunny to kill kids and who is keeping a ghost asleep so it doesn’t murder more people, might have some psychological issues that need fixing.

The Good

Look, I really wanted to like Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. There are so many good elements in the design of the game and the lore surrounding Freddy.  This script has no idea how to use them effectively.  

What is effective are the scenes with the animatronics inside the pizzeria. It makes sense, it’s what the concept was designed for. Freddy in the real world isn’t near as interesting.

This movie makes no sense. From start to finish, it’s just not well written. It’s a shame because it’s easy to see why the character design has such a lasting appeal.  The animatronics look great and when they are put in the correct environment, they are legit intimidating.

Where it Went Wrong

Where everything breaks down is the character development and story structure. This may seem like an obvious statement, but apparently it bears repeating: a movie is not a game. The narrative beats need to hit differently, and the audience has different expectations.

Much of this has to do with the role the audience member takes on. With a game, the player is an active participant in some form or another. Even in the most narrative-driven games, the player selects their own path.  Movies are mostly passive. Audience participation is emotional and requires the filmmakers, cast and crew alike, to communicate their story in a very different way.

A quick and dirty example is dialogue. In games, the POV character can get away with talking to themselves a bit more. This serves to instruct the player on goals, give status updates, or other flavor text. In movies, characters plainly stating what they are doing or feeling or their goals is generally not a good decision.

Pacing is another issue. A movie is about 90 minutes. Games can be that long, or they can be over 40 hours. Their story is spread across the experience, told in small moments. Game narrative is the cumulation of story, gameplay mechanic, character design, audio, and the player’s actions. It can be difficult to quantify how much story is in a game from a time perspective. The way each player experiences that story will be different.

To adapt that personal experience into media that can be enjoyed by a mainstream audience is a challenge. It’s not surprising that so few game adaptations have really clicked with audiences. There have been a few that I’ve watched that weren’t bad but didn’t line up with my expectations based on my experience in the game.

Final Thoughts

All of this is to say, there wasn’t enough story in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 for a sequel that tried to be bigger than the first movie. All the movie really needed to do was explore the first location with the Marionette. The school, the town and fest, all that was unnecessary. Hopefully the 3^rd movie—I’m sure there will be one—can return to what makes the series great: fantastic looking animatronics jumping out and scaring the crap out of people.

This is my last review of 2025 and I can’t think of a better way to end the year. Combining my love of gaming and movies into a movie that while flawed I also enjoyed watching and discussing. Honestly Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has made me more likely to pick up the games than the first movie. In that regard its a success.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope this next one is a good one.

Five Night’s at Freddy’s 2 is available on Streaming.