The highly anticipated sequel to the 2023 box office sensation, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, has arrived, but it's a nightmarish experience for all the wrong reasons. Directed once again by Emma Tammi and starring Josh Hutcherson, this follow-up proves that not every successful film warrants a continuation, delivering a confusing and tedious story that will likely disappoint even the franchise's most dedicated fans.
A Messy Narrative That Loses Its Way
Picking up after the events of the first film, the story finds Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) and former police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) trying to move on with their lives. Mike is now caring for his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio), who struggles to fit in at school and yearns to be reunited with the haunted animatronic friends she made. Vanessa, meanwhile, is haunted by dreams of her serial killer father, William Afton (Matthew Lillard).
The plot quickly becomes incoherent. An atmospheric but implausible prologue set in the early 1980s introduces a young girl named Charlotte. The film then juggles Abby's school life, the return of the animatronics, and the lingering trauma of the characters, but fails to weave these threads into a satisfying or scary whole. Fans of the series have reported finding the storyline confusing, a significant flaw for a film relying on an existing fanbase.
Bigger Budget, Lesser Impact
While the production design benefits from a larger budget, with the animatronics from Jim Henson's Creature Shop venturing beyond the pizza restaurant, the core elements of filmmaking are neglected. The script, credited solely to game creator Scott Cawthon, highlights a fundamental issue: what works for an interactive video game often falls flat in a passive cinematic experience.
Characters are paper-thin, existing primarily to become victims, such as Abby's inexplicably nasty science teacher, Mr. Berg, played by Wayne Knight. Returning director Emma Tammi can't salvage the material, resulting in a film with no real emotion and no cumulative feeling of fear. The occasional creepy moment, including a effectively unsettling performance by Freddy Carter as a new security guard, is not enough to sustain interest over the 104-minute runtime.
A Sequel Made for Commerce, Not Art
The 2023 original film, while not critically acclaimed, was a major commercial hit. This sequel, released on December 6, 2025, feels like a transparent attempt to capitalise on that financial success rather than a story that needed to be told. The haphazard construction and lack of narrative clarity suggest the project was rushed.
Brief cameos from Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich only serve as a reminder of the superior horror pedigree of films like Scream. The film's most significant failing is that it's simply boring—a cardinal sin for a horror movie.
For die-hard fans who choose to watch, it's advised to stay through the credits for a mid-credits scene and a final audio clip that hints at more sequels. After this experience, one can only hope that any future nights at Freddy's are far better conceived and executed than this disappointing, lacklustre effort.
