Scream Stream 2023: Five Nights at Freedy’s

Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a mall security guard, gets fired after he attacks a father of a child he thought was being kidnapped.  He goes to a career counselor, Steve Radlan (Matthew Lillard), who offers him a job as a nighttime security guard at an abandoned pizzeria / arcade called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.  The restaurant chain was known for its cutting-edge animatronic characters that interacted with the children (think Chuck E. Cheese). At first, he is reticent to take the position, because he can’t work nights, as he cares for his much younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio).  Abby is a strange and withdrawn child who just likes to color pictures of and talk to her imaginary friends. Mike has his own issues revolving around witnessing the abduction of his brother years before. Desperate for the work, he finally agrees and on his first night he falls asleep and dreams of his brother’s abduction, he is woken up by police officer Venessa (Elizabeth Lail), a beautiful, but somewhat strange woman who seems to know an awful lot about Freddy’s. She introduces him to the animatronic characters and gives him some history on the restaurant’s dark past and why it closed. On the third night, circumstances require that Mike bring Abby along with him and the two discover that the animatronic characters actually come alive and have wills of their own who aren’t always benevolent.  There is also a connection between Mike’s missing brother and Freddy’s.  Who or what are these things, and can Mike, Abby and Vanessa survive? Watch and find out!

I know nothing of the videos game series this is based on, so went into this movie completely blind to any of the lore or history.  I was expecting a dumb little film that might be mildly entertaining and was surprised by the depth of the story and the performances of the actors.  The abduction plot and how it relates to Mike’s life and his relationship with Abby is well portrayed, with Mike suffering from anger issues and frustration at where his life has taken him. The dream sequences where he searches his memories for some clue as to who took his brother are subtle in their visual aesthetic but powerful in their message. The use of practical effects as opposed to CGI was also nice to see with the animatronic characters being created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.  The music is also very well composed by The Newton Brothers, who I am becoming a big fan of, and adds the appropriate tone and atmosphere to the film.

The performances really make this movie. Josh Hutcherson is perfect as Mike, with a kind of built-in rage within his personality and frustration with his sister who won’t eat properly or do anything he asks of her.  He looks uncomfortable in his life and his surroundings and even more important, he is self-aware of this and knows he is not really fit to raise Abby but loves her and doesn’t want to lose her.  But he has this all-consuming need to know what happened to his brother even if it costs him Abby.  Piper Rubio is very good as Abby, who is shy and withdrawn and a bit sad until she meets Freddy and his crew, and she finally has friends. Piper must show a broad range of emotions, from fear and anger to love and joy, and this young girl does it well. I almost didn’t recognize Mathew Lillard (Scream) who also does a great job in the role he plays.  His vocal quality has matured, and his acting is a lot more subtle and not so over the top, until it needs to be. Overall, I really enjoyed this film and found it a lot more profound than I thought I would.  It is one of the best movies I have seen based on a video game series.