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Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, and Josh Hutcherson star in a scene from the movie "Five Nights at Freddy's 2." The OSV News classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (OSV News photo/Ryan Green, courtesy Universal Pictures and Blumhouse)

Movie Review: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’


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OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews

NEW YORK (OSV News) – Fancy the chance to return to the haunted pizzeria moviegoers were first able to tour in 2023? Then the horror sequel “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” (Universal) is the film for you. Alas, all but the franchise’s most devoted fans will likely find this second serving in the series not only thin-crusted but cold and stale as well.

The topping this time out is the retrospective tale of Charlotte (Audrey Lynn Marie), a sad child who had difficulty making friends. In the now abandoned Chuck E. Cheese-like restaurant-cum-arcade called Freddy Fazbear’s, Charlotte was long ago murdered by William Afton (Matthew Lillard), a serial killer who preyed on kids.

Understandably resentful of the fact that no adult came to her aid, Charlotte died angry and became a poltergeist. With the aid of a character dubbed the Marionette, Charlotte has the ability to possess others and to animate the menagerie of animatronic entertainers who were once part of the draw at Freddy’s.

That’s bad news for the trio of returning main characters, ex-security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson), his pal-turned-girlfriend, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), and his young sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). Abby, who could give Charlotte a run for her money in the gloom department, is obsessed with the mechanical denizens of Freddy’s whom she imagines to be friendly.

This gives Vanessa and Mike an excuse to revisit the spooky labyrinth beneath Freddy’s, an environment essential to the series of videogames from which this movie, like its predecessor, is adapted. The jump scares waiting there eventually lose their punch, though there’s some enjoyment to be had from the spectacle of its inhabitants breaking free into the wider world.

If there’s a message behind the proceedings — directed by Emma Tammi from a screenplay by Steve Cawthorn, creator of the source material — it can be summed up in the phrase the family that slays together stays together. That’s a pineapple-and-pepperoni sort of moral few will find digestible.

The film contains occult and vengeance themes, stylized gun and physical violence and fleeting rough language. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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