Two years after William Afton (Matthew Lillard), the founder of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, was killed by the spirits of his victims Abby (Piper Rubio) misses the animatronic characters that the spirits possessed. Her brother Mike (Josh Hutcherson) makes excuses to stop Abby from returning to Freddy’s but she decides to go there anywhere, and finds a discarded FazTalker toy. When Abby starts receiving messages through the toy, she’s drawn back to Freddy’s and once again finds her life in danger.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” was a certified box office smash when it was released in 2023. Based on the popular video game series by Scott Cawthon, who co-wrote the screenplay and has sole writing credit for this sequel, it wasn’t a surprise when a sequel was announced. The original film was entertaining enough, even if it wasn’t particularly inventive or original, but can the source material really stretch out to a sequel?
You could forgive the first film for a lot, and while it wasn’t a great film, it was at least watchable. This sequel aims for more of the same, but this time around it’s a slog rather than a ride. The film opens with the murder of a child in 1982, who was friends with a young Vanessa (the older version is played by Elizabeth Lail), and it introduces a Marionette character. The action then jumps forward 20 years and Abby, Mike and Vanessa are coming to terms with the events of the first film. Abby is withdrawn and misses her friends, Mike is doing his best to hold it all together and Vanessa is processing the trauma associated with the actions of her serial killer father.
Into the mix comes a bunch of young ghost hunters, led by McKenna Grace and Teo Briones who are criminally under-used, and they accidentally awaken the Marionette, which is possessed by the spirit of the young victim from the opening sequence. The film then attempts to tie the ghost hunters storyline to that of Abby, Mike and Vanessa and the end result is a film devoid of scares that limps to the finish line, rather than sprints triumphantly over it. There’s nothing new to see here and the film hasn’t learned from the shortcomings of the original. Instead, it doubles down with clunky robots, ineffective jump scares and a storyline that’s so convoluted, you’ll be lucky if you don’t lose interest part way through.
The cast does its best. Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio and Elizabeth Lail don’t get enough material to work with, and parts of their storylines feel like a rehash of the first film. Skeet Ulrich is a good addition to the cast but if you blink you might miss him, and the chance for that ‘Scream’ reunion with Matthew Lillard never comes to fruition. Lillard is similarly neglected, with a tiny amount of screen time that makes you wonder why he signed on.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” has done well at the box office so that third film feels inevitable. The end of the film sets things up for a third film but the franchise really doesn’t need to continue, at least not in its current guise. With no real scares, a cast that’s woefully underused and a plot that’s short on ideas, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” is a disappointing sequel. Even more disappointing when you consider that the first film hardly set a high bar.
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard, Freddy Carter, Mckenna Grace, Skeet Ulrich Director: Emma Tammi Writer: Scott Cawthon Certificate: 15 Duration: 104 mins Released by: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Release date: 5th January 2026 Buy “Five Nights At Freddy’s 2” now
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