Five Nights at Freddy’s started as a video game that came out back in 2014 on Steam and was picked up by very well-known Youtubers, ultimately becoming an internet sensation. To summarize the concept of the game, you play as a night guard and must survive five nights being hunted by animatronics who look to kill you.
Throughout the years, there have been many Five Nights at Freddy’s games furthering the popularity of the game. This popularity has been extended into its movie adaptation, which saw $39.4 million in ticket sales from opening day alone, according to Variety.
The film follows troubled security guard Mike Schmidt who begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. During his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift won’t be easy to get through.
The film begins with introducing Schmidt as a mall cop who loses his job after assaulting a negligent father that he believed was a kidnapper. He is forced to visit career counseling, which introduces him to Steve Raglan who gets him the night guard job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Schmidt initially denies the offer, but he changes his mind later on when social services threaten to take his sister Abby from him. For some context, when Schmidt was younger his little brother Garrett was abducted right in front of him and because of this, he has nightmares every night. Every time he has a nightmare, he relives this memory in hopes that he’ll be able to see the getaway driver.
He had this dream on his first night on the job but now five children are standing there with him. On Schmidt’s second night at the job, the film introduces Vanessa Shelly, a police officer who explains to him that the pizza place closed after five children were murdered there and their bodies were never found.
Schmidt has the same dream again, but this time he attempts to speak to one of the children asking what he saw. Schmidt is attacked by this child and wakes up to a physical wound in real life.
This is the first real attack that the animatronics make, which might not be clear to viewers if they haven’t played the video game. On the third night, Schmidt’s aunt Jane decides to hire a group of people to vandalize the restaurant in hopes of getting him fired so that she can gain custody of Abby. However, once the group begins vandalizing the building, the animatronics come to life and murder all of them.
The animatronics kill his sister’s babysitter, forcing Schmidt to bring his sister to work where they befriend her as Schmidt and Shelly grow hesitant.
Schmidt discovers that the animatronics are alive because they’re inhabited by the souls of the five murdered children who were murdered. During the next and final shift, Schmidt has his aunt babysit his sister while he works. During a dream on the last night, the five children offer to allow Schmidt the opportunity to stay with Garrett forever in his dreams in exchange for Abby.
Want to know what happens next? Go see Five Nights at Freddy’s at theaters near you or by streaming on Peacock. A sequel is not yet confirmed but there are millions of fans that are hoping for one.