Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Mary Stuart Masterson, Piper Rubio, Kat Conner Sterling, Elizabeth Lail
OUR RATING: ★★☆☆☆
Story:
Supernatural horror directed and co-written by Emma Tammi based on the video game franchise. Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) centers on Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a troubled security guard, who begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a once successful abandoned family entertainment center. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.
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Best Quotes
Jeremiah: [reading from the Dream Theory book] “And though the dreamer remains asleep, he walks through memory as if experiencing it for the first time anew, no longer a passenger but an active participant.” This stuff for real?
Mike: Some people think so. Guess it depends on what you believe.
Jeremiah: Summer of ’82, I traded a mint condition Cal Ripken Jr. rookie for a used copy of “Missile Command”. That card’s probably worth eight hundred bucks now. I wish I could participate in that memory and actively kick my own a**.
William Afton: [referring to the job] It’s a security gig. Full disclosure, it’s not great. Right? High turnover. That’s what we call it in the business. But you get to be your own boss. Sort of. And you only have to worry about one thing. Keeping people out. And, you know, and keep the place tidy.
Mike: That’s two things.
William Afton: You want the job or not?
Mike: How’s the pay?
William Afton: Not great. But the hours are worse.
Mike’s Mom: [flashback] Everything’s better swimming in ketchup. Right, Mike? Whoop.
Dr. Lillian: Abby is not mentally ill.
Aunt Jane: Oh, right. Perfectly normal to sit around drawing pictures all day and talking to magical creatures who do not exist.
Aunt Jane: Don’t tell me to calm down. You’re the doctor, and you’re making me feel like I’m the crazy one?
Mike: [referring to Abby] She talks to air more than she talks to me. I could drop dead tomorrow, and she’d be too busy drawing to even notice.
Dr. Lillian: You know, pictures hold tremendous power for children. Before we learn to speak, images are the most important tool we have for understanding the world around us. What’s real, what matters to us most. These are things children learn to communicate almost exclusively through pictures.
Mike: Yeah, her pictures mean something.
Dr. Lillian: And who is at the center of nine out of ten of them?
Mike: Me.
Dr. Lillian: Like it or not, you’re her world.
Mike: Mr. Raglan, this is Mike.
William Afton: Mr. “I can’t work nights”.
Mike: Right. Yeah, I was just calling to see if that job that you offered was was still available.
William Afton: Oh, it absolutely is. Why? Have you had a change of heart?
Mike: How soon could I start?
William Afton: [to Mike] Let me give you a little backstory. This place was huge in the ’80s with the kids. It’s been shut down for years. The only reason they haven’t given it the old wrecking ball treatment is the owner’s a bit of a, well, he’s kind of a sentimental guy, I guess. He just can’t bring himself to let it go yet.
William Afton: [to Mike] Anything happens, there is a breaker in the main office. Just flip it. I guess that’s about it. You know, the rest is pretty easy. Just keep your eyes on the monitors and keep people out. Piece of cake. So, I will catch you on the flip side. Hopefully.
Kim: [as Mike watches the old video] Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, a magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. If you’re watching this video, it means you’ve been selected as Freddy’s newest security guard. Congratulations. We’re going to have so much fun together.
Aunt Jane: So, I guess we’re finished here, unless either one of you has a brilliant idea, which I realize is highly unlikely.
Jeff: [referring to Mike] Why don’t we just kill him?
Aunt Jane: Tempting. But no.
Vanessa: Are you good? Are you okay? Is everything copacetic?
Mike: Yeah. I know what “alright” means.
Vanessa: Do you also know that your eyes are bloodshot and your heart rate’s through the roof? And aside from that gash on your arm, which let’s be honest, is pretty fricking bizarre, you’ve been acting suspicious since the moment you opened the door.
Mike: Yeah. Look, it’s been a weird night.
Vanessa: Sounds like Freddy’s.
'Images are the most important tool we have for understanding the world around us. What's real, what matters to us most.' - Dr. Lillian (Five Nights at Freddy's) Share on X
Vanessa: This place, it gets to people. It’s one of the reasons why you’re going to quit.
Mike: I’m sorry?
Vanessa: You security hires, you never last.
Vanessa: Have you met them yet?
Mike: Met who?
Vanessa: Is this somewhere you see yourself ten, twenty years from now? I mean, what do I know? Maybe the benefits are great. I didn’t think so. Add to that the thing with those kids going missing.
Mike: What did you just say?
Vanessa: Prepare to have your mind blown.
Mike: [as he sees the restaurant’s animatronic mascots] This is…
Vanessa: The best thing you’ve seen in your entire life?
Vanessa: Some friendly advice? Don’t let this place get to you. Just do your job, and you’ll be fine.
Mike: Yeah, sounds good.
Abby: [referring to Jane] I hate her. She’s mean and she smells like cigarettes. It’s not funny.
Mike: You’re right. It’s not. It’s just, I don’t know, it’s nice that we can finally agree about something.
Mike: So there’s this theory that we can’t forget things. Basically, it says that every single thing that you see in your entire life, down to the tiniest of details, gets stored inside of you. You just have to know how to look.
Vanessa: Your brother, you think you saw who took him?
Mike: I know I did. And I know that he’s in here. But it’s buried. So every night, I dream, and I go back to that same memory, and I search for details. For any little thing that got overlooked. Yeah. And that’s usually the part where people tell me I’m crazy.
Vanessa: I know what crazy looks like, Mike. This isn’t it. Not even close.
Mike: You’re those kids, right? The ones who disappeared? Look. I don’t know how it’s possible that you’re here like this in my dream, but I need your help. Please. Help me remember the man who took my brother.
Ghost Kid (Blonde Boy): If we show you, what will you give us?
Mike: Anything. I’ll give you anything you want.
'Every single thing that you see in your entire life, down to the tiniest of details, gets stored inside of you. You just have to know how to look.' - Mike (Five Nights at Freddy's) Share on X
Abby: [after the animatronics come to life] They wouldn’t stop tickling me. I thought I was going to die. Freddy, this is my brother, Mike.
Mike: Abby, what is this?
Abby: Mike, this is Bonnie, Foxy, and Chica. Everyone, this is Mike.
Mike: This is a joke, right? I mean, there’s someone here. There’s probably somebody controlling them, right? I mean… Okay, good joke! Congratulations! You got me! You can come out now! Hello?
Abby: It’s okay, Mike. They just want to play.
Mike: Your friends? Are they…?
Abby: Ghosts?
Mike: Yeah.
Abby: Of course. How else could they make the robots move?
Mike: You knew about this.
Vanessa: Guess you figured it out.
Mike: Ghost children possessing giant robots? Thanks for the heads-up.
Mike: [referring to the ghost missing kids] I think that they know who took my little brother. I can’t explain it, but when I’m here, I feel closer to Garrett. My dreams are more vivid, and it’s like I can almost…
Vanessa: Change what happened?
Vanessa: Mike, you need to drop this.
Mike: I don’t really see how that’s any of your business.
Vanessa: I’m telling you, you need to let it go.
Mike: Who the hell are you?
Vanessa: Just someone who’s trying to help.
Mike: Finding the guy that did this is the only thing that matters to me.
Mike: What are you so afraid of? In the storage room. I saw your eyes. You were terrified.
Vanessa: You can do whatever you want with your own life. But if you ever bring Abby back here again, I will shoot you.
Abby: [to Mike, referring to Vanessa] She looked so angry. Why does everyone always look at you that way?
Ghost Kid (Blonde Boy): You want to save Garrett. That’s why you’re really here. To change what happened. To go back.
Mike: But I can’t. He’s gone. They’re all gone.
Ghost Kid (Blonde Boy): You can have this dream every night. You can be together with him again. Like before.
Mike: How?
Ghost Kid (Blonde Boy): You said we could have anything we wanted. We want Abby.
Mike: Abby?
Garrett: [inside his dream, referring to Abby] They love her, Mike, and she loves them.
Mike’s Mom: You’ve seen her with them. You’ve seen how happy she is. It’s time to let her go, sweetheart. You were never the right person to take care of her.
Mike: I made a mistake! Please, I don’t want this! Do you hear me?! You leave Abby alone!
Abby: Freddy?
Ghost Kid (Blonde Boy): Not Freddy. They’re all waiting for you. It’s time to go play.
Cabbie: [as he sees Abby in the backseat with Freddy] Why do I always get the weirdos?
Mike: They tried to kill me, Vanessa. But I’m guessing you already knew that. Max. Her brother. You knew about them too, right?
Vanessa: It’s complicated.
Mike: Yeah. Yeah. More complicated than possessed robots murdering innocent people?
Vanessa: They weren’t innocent.
Mike: Yeah, Abby is!
Mike: In my dream, they asked me for Abby. And I said yes. It was a mistake, and I tried to fix it. What do they want with my sister?
Vanessa: They want to make her like them.
Vanessa: In the ’80s, when those kids went missing, the police searched Freddy’s from top to bottom. Every inch was accounted for. But they never found them.
Vanessa: [referring to the missing kids] It’s not just their ghosts that are inside of those machines. It’s their bodies.
Vanessa: You have to understand, the kids, they don’t want to hurt anyone. It’s him. He influences them somehow. He took everything from them, but they don’t remember.
Mike: Who, Vanessa?
Vanessa: I tried to warn you. I really did try in my own way. But it’s too late now. He knows that you’re looking for him. He’ll be coming.
Mike: You need to tell me who he is.
Vanessa: His name is William Afton. He’s my father.
Mike: [referring to saving Abby] Come with me.
Vanessa: No.
Mike: Vanessa, you owe it to me, and you owe it to them.
Vanessa: No, I can’t. If he’s there, I won’t be any use to you, believe me.
Mike: He really messed you up, didn’t he?
Mike: Hey, Abby, listen to me. I’ve been an idiot about so many things. I’ve been stuck trying to fix the past, but you are the most important thing in the world to me, and I promise you I’m going to do better.
Abby: I love you, too, Mike. But we should probably go now.
Yellow Rabbit: You couldn’t just leave it alone, could you? Lucky me. This is perfect. First I killed your brother. Now I kill you. Symmetry, my friend.
Mike: Go to hell.
Yellow Rabbit: Little ones tell me you have a sister. She will love it here. You, however, are finished. Farewell, Michael Schmidt.
Yellow Rabbit: A little old for temper tantrums, aren’t we, Vanessa?
Vanessa: I’m not kidding, Dad.
William Afton: [as he takes off his mask to reveal Afton] You may have forgotten your loyalties, but I assure you, they have not.
William Afton: [referring to Mike] You had one job. One. Keep him in the dark, and kill him if he got too close.
Vanessa: That’s two jobs.
Abby: [to Afton] They can see you now. They know what you did.
William Afton: [to the mascots] Look at you. Look at the nasty things that you have become. Look how small you are, how worthless you are. You are wretched, rotten little beasts. I made you!
William Afton: [as the mascots turn on Afton] I always come back.
Mike: [visiting a comatose Vanessa in hospital] Vanessa, I don’t know if you can hear any of this, but I’m having a hard time just processing everything that happened. But you were there for me and Abby when it mattered the most. And I don’t think that either of us would be here today if it weren’t for you. So get better. And we’ll be here when you wake up.
Abby: I was just thinking about my friends. They’re all alone. No one takes care of them anymore. Can we visit them sometime?
Mike: You know what? You never know what can happen.
