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Popular video game franchises adapted into feature films or TV shows can either be a hit or a miss.  One notable example of a hit is the HBO series The Last of Us, which came with critical acclaim after its season premiere. And one striking miss is the feature film Uncharted that was panned by both critics and fans of the video game. 

If you’re looking for a hit with Five Nights at Freddy’s, sadly you’re not going to get that here. There’s not much of a hit happening with this snoozefest adapted from the horror-fiction video game of the same name. The potential to make this movie as engaging and compelling as its video game predecessor was missed by a lackluster plot. The film’s protagonist Mike (Josh Hutcherson) is dealing with post-traumatic stress and anxiety around his brother Garrett’s (Lucas Grant) disappearance. When Mike was a child, he saw his younger brother abducted in broad daylight during a family outing. Garrett was never seen nor heard from again. Sadly this tragedy is still haunting Mike as an adult and he has recurring dreams about that fateful day. He takes sleep medication which ironically provides clarity to his dreams and he’s able to capture more details. His ultimate goal is to find the man who took his brother and find out what happened. 

While the overall story structure of Five Nights at Freddy’s is centered around this theme of Mike’s loss and endless search for his brother’s abductor, the heart and soul of what makes the video game franchise successful is missing from the film.  The eponymous animatronic bear — mascot of the pizza establishment Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza — is more of a footnote in this story than a substantial part of the plot. While we do get to see the terrifying robots in action, their presence throughout the film is minimal. And that’s where it falls flat as a riveting horror flick. Due to the direction of this movie being focused more on Mike’s conflict, it impacted the pacing so much so that it was hard to stay awake through some scenes.

There is a key part of Mike’s story as it relates to his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio). She’s a bit withdrawn and doodles images in her room while talking to imaginary characters. Her personality as well as her quirky way of communicating is what inevitably ties her to the animatronic puppets. The puppets — inspired from Chuck E. Cheese and Showbiz Pizza in their heyday — perform musically in robotic motion inside of a dilapidated pizzeria set in late 80s/early 90s Nebraska.  

And while the truncated performances of the cyborg-like animals leave the script more two-dimensional and stale than it intended, the appearance of Matthew Lillard as Steve, is also bland. No disrespect to Lillard’s performance, which I think was decent, his character lacked nuance and substance. Steve Ragland is a career counselor who helps Mike get a job position at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. This comes off the heels of Mike losing his last job after physically assaulting a man who he thought was kidnapping a child. At first the reaction to punching the daylights out of the man seems pretty extreme, but as you learn Mike’s backstory and childhood trauma, the knee-jerk reaction of being so violent to the poor innocent guy makes sense. It’s after this that Steve is assigned to assist Mike in finding work.  Steve’s character however, was incredibly predictable and left no room for the imagination.  

And then there’s Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), a local police officer, who lacks any instinct a person in law enforcement should have, helps Mike in his new security guard role at the pizza establishment. She’s oddly friendly to this strange man, and the sight of blood on Mike when she first meets him doesn’t raise any red flags. Like I said, her instincts are poor for someone with a job aided to serve and protect.

If you are a fan of the video game, which I’ve never played myself, you may be disappointed as you would likely expect more action and horror from these demonic androids. There are a few jump scares here and there, but not enough for me to actually jump in my chair. I will say that I did like the creepy look of these animatronic creatures. The slow turning of their heads and the menacing look they deliver as they slowly close their eyelids was pretty frightening to watch. I just wish they had more screen time, which would have added another dose of horror to an already terrifying story.  

Five Nights at Freddy’s is a slow-paced horror film that offers a bunch of monotonous storytelling, and little to no chills and thrills that a film of this genre is supposed to deliver. 

The film is directed by Emma Tammi. Written by Scott Cawthon, Emma Tammi, Seth Cuddeback. The film is produced by Blumhouse and Universal Pictures.

Five Nights at Freddy’s is currently playing in theaters and available to stream on Peacock.