Five Nights at Freddy's 2

★★ out of ★★★★

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2026)

Runtime: 104 minutes

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violent content, terror and some language.

Here's a funny story. I've taken a habit of jotting down some notes of what I think about the movie as it's playing, just to help me when writing on how I feel about it. For Michael, that was about 15 points. Surely, for a mindless video game adaptation, there wouldn't be so much to jot down, right? 20 minutes into Five Nights at Freddy's 2, the follow-up to the 2023 adaptation, I stared at the screen with contentment, without anything in particular to say. Yes, the first movie already set some expectations in terms of structure, dialogue, plot armor, and the lack of claustrophobia. Yet, by the time the credits rolled, the number of things I had to say was already 25. All this for the movie titled "Five Nights at Freddy's 2". You get the point.

As it turns out, this sequel is not as simple as one thinks. Set a year after the fateful events of the first movie, Mike (Josh Hutcherson), Abby (Piper Rubio) and Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) have been attempting to move forward and continue their lives. Still, Abby feels loneliness and misses her animatronic friends, the same ones who tried to mechanically eat her not long ago. You would think a kid would be traumatised from these horrific events, but somehow she wants to reconnect with them, which involves her sneaking out to the Fazbear pizzeria with new animatronics, updated features and ominous vibes. This shift reflects the lore and details of the second game in the series, clunkily explained in a later scene where Mike visits one of the victims' parents, briefing him that where Abby went to was the original location. Conveniently, a subplot involving ghost hunters led by Lisa (McKenna Grace) see them exploring the abandoned pizzeria and making terrible decisions, which triggers a series of events that throw everything into the mix as it slowly unfolds.

Surprisingly and delightfully, director Emma Tammi and writer Scott Cawthon have improved on the technical elements and made something more efficient. The production values are never lacking, there seems to be a stronger sense of atmosphere this time around (despite it always retreating to a cheap jumpscare), and the pacing has become more economical. You don't feel it obviously dragging unlike its predecessor. Script-wise, so much is different and so much is the same. Similar problems hamper the overall production from being worth recommending, yet there's something to be said about trying out some unique ideas when it isn't so preoccupied with nodding to its source material.

In what essentially is a three-hander, Freddy's 2 attempts to deal with Abby's mistreatment from her schoolteacher and loneliness, as well as focusing on how Vanessa copes from the trauma of her father's shadow. As suggested by Mike, Vanessa induces herself into a dream sequence, one that flexes the filmmakers' ability to play with space, perspective and colour. It's also smart to not have made this repetitive like what we saw previously in Mike's dreams. However, they also seem less interested to deal with Mike as a person, how he truly feels about the event and how life really is now, instead just circling back to him worrying over other people around him. When the series of events kick in motion, it seems like there hasn't been substantial progression in the narrative.

The part where the animatronics break free from the physical constraints of the pizzeria and roam freely in public is fairly interesting, tying back to Charlotte's rage of parents' complacency during the opening flashback of her murder. It seems like a decent ride, but the resolution (if you even call it that) undoes everything and makes everything so messy. Michael (Freddy Carter), the tour guide for the ghost hunters, reveals himself to be Michael Afton, and various things like exposition dumps, Charlotte's motivations, new and old animatronics are thrown together, making the threads so convoluted it's basically impossible to untangle them at this point. Remember Vanessa's personal journey? That concludes in a cliffhanger, alongside a post-credits scene that sets up the next installment, an ode to how the series won't stop until it's truly over.

Again, many themes are subtly suggested here, but one doesn't expect a movie like this to deal with it that deeply. What I didn't expect, however, was the subplot involving Mr. Berg (Wayne Knight) disregarding all of Abby's ambitions and work, even going as far as destroying it. It's disheartening to see such teachers suppress a student's growth, and employing such a narrow-minded way of thinking when educating children. These moments were so insightful, and Knight's mannerisms, tone and delivery were so precise, I felt something strong for the first time in the movie. I felt undeniable anger.