Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
The animatronic horrors of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza have lumbered back onto the screen with Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, proving that some sequels are less a fresh start and more a malfunctioning repeat of the same spooky cycle. In 2023, the first film adaptation settled for being a predictable, PG-13 gateway horror, offering a slice of gimmicky fun for dedicated fans of the video game franchise while leaving mainstream audiences and critics staring at an empty pizza box.
So, with the announcement of a sequel, one might have hoped for a course correction: a sharper script, genuine scares, or a more coherent bridge between its game-bound lore and cinematic storytelling. Hope Madden’s review swiftly disabuses us of that notion, serving a critique that is as witty as it is withering.
Director Emma Tammi returns to the helm, this time with game creator Scott Cawthon solo-writing the screenplay, a fact that becomes glaringly apparent as the plot contorts itself into new, convoluted shapes. The core trio, featuring Josh Hutcherson’s trauma-avoidant Mike, Piper Rubio’s implausibly naïve Abby, and Elizabeth Lail’s Vanessa, who is now taking life advice from the former, stumbles through a narrative that seems assembled with a staple gun rather than a director’s vision.
Madden skewers the film’s disregard for continuity, its puzzling character choices, such as why there are two Michaels, and the glaring absence of the macabre humor that could have salvaged the chaos. While acknowledging a cool new animatronic design and the novelty of a “Skeet Ulrich sighting,” the review underscores a fundamental disrespect for its audience, young or old. Ultimately, Madden presents Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 not as a terrifying thrill ride, but as a bear-y disappointing encore that ends, unsurprisingly, by rolling the credits on a setup for part three.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2: Bear-ly a Movie, Mostly a Setup for Part Three
One year has passed since the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Former security guard Mike has kept the truth from his 11-year-old sister, Abby, concerning the fate of her animatronic friends. When Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, she sets into motion a terrifying series of events that reveal dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy’s.
Release date: 5 December 2025
Director: Emma Tammi
A Horror Movie Review by Hope Madden
In 2023, Five Nights at Freddy’s—a predictable PG-13 horror built on a video game—delivered a bit of gimmicky fun for fans of the game and little to nothing for the rest of us. So, hooray! There’s a sequel.
Director Emma Tammi returns, with video game creator Scott Cawthon handling the sole screenplay credit this go-round. His script sees Mike (Josh Hutcherson) still avoiding therapy for himself or his disturbingly naïve 11-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio). And Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) is so bad off she’s taking psychological advice from Mike.
Naturally, all of them are suffering the trauma of the bloodthirsty animatronics that came to life on night security Mike’s watch last time around, possessed by Vanessa’s evil dad’s. But Mike’s painting a house and Abby’s into robotics, so I’m sure they’re fine!
Wait, they’re not. And through a fairly convoluted storyline that sees one of Seinfeld’s neighbors get The Story of Ricky treatment, the trio not only brings the Country Bear Murder Spree back to life, they set them free to roam the town.
Scenes are slapped together with a gleeful disregard to continuity, and again, the macabre sense of humor that might have kept the film afloat is entirely missing.
Freddy Carter is a fun addition as the villainous Michael. (Who, honestly, names one character Mike and another one Michael?) And there is a Skeet Ulrich sighting. Plus, a new animatronic—kind of a goth Miyazaki styles marionette—is cool. And though I’d predicted McKenna Grace to be a kind of cold open kill, instead she gets a bit of a creepy, if small, character arc.
I realize the film is aimed at a young audience, but Tammi and team could at least pretend to respect them as viewers.
Hutcherson can act, and I’m confident someday he’ll get another film that lets him do that. Until then, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 ends with a clear path to a third installment. Hooray.
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