Five Nights At Freddy's Ending Explained: Ghosts In The Family-Friendly Machines
This article contains major spoilers for "Five Nights at Freddy's."
The horror event of the season is finally here, and plenty of parents are probably looking for a guide on whether or not "Five Nights at Freddy's" is appropriate for their kids to watch. Chances are, if your kiddos are already a fan of the popular game franchise, nothing in the "FNaF" film adaptation is going to shock them, as the most twisted aspects of the PG-13 release are pulled straight from the game's lore. However, the film takes some creative liberties with the story, so looking up game guides won't be of any help for those looking to do some parental investigation ahead of time.
Given the film's rating, much of the scarier moments are crafted through tension and atmosphere, with the deaths occurring in shadows, off-screen, or left up to the imagination. That doesn't mean "Five Nights at Freddy's" is without hair-raising moments, but director Emmi Tammi confirmed in a recent interview with Inverse that the film was made with younger viewers in mind.
"In some cases, we leaned into shadows and silhouettes and sound design to really feel the moment in an impactful way without showing any gore," she said. "So that is something that I had a lot of fun doing, and actually really appreciated that we were taking the PG-13 approach for this because there's such a younger audience for 'FNAF,' and we didn't want to exclude them."
If you're looking for more details, we here at /Film are here to break down the movie adaptation of "Five Nights at Freddy's," explain what sort of messaging the film has, and predict what the ending has to say about the future of the series.
What you need to remember about the plot of Five Nights at Freddy's
While "Five Nights at Freddy's" borrows much of the plot of the original game, there are new elements in the film that make the lore of Mike Schmidt even more interesting. The Josh Hutcherson version of the character is still reeling from the kidnapping of his little brother Garrett, who was taken when they were both children and Mike was supposed to be watching him. Mike has since become the caregiver of his little sister Abby, and has become obsessed with retracing his memory of the day Garrett was kidnapped in his dreams. He doesn't want to work nights because he has to watch his sister, but more importantly, he wants to dream of Garrett to see if there's anything he missed from that day that could help him remember the identity of who took his brother.
This means that Mike often falls asleep on the job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, leaving him vulnerable to the animatronics freely roaming at night. Falling asleep at Freddy's also changes his dreams, as he sees the figures of other children for the first time, who seem to know something about Garrett. These children are the spirits that inhabit the animatronics at Freddy's, and they do know the secret of Garrett's disappearance. They also wish to be friends with Abby, who accompanies Mike at work after her babysitter Max mysteriously goes missing. Unfortunately, we as the audience know the truth — she was killed during a break-in at Freddy's.
And then there's Vanessa, the key to all of the mysteries at Freddy's. Sure, she looks like a cop, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Mike and Abby are in grave danger, and Vanessa has known the truth the whole time.
Healing the hurt with even more pain
Mike is visited by the ghost children in his dreamscape, who offer him the chance to be reunited with Garrett. He has been plagued with guilt for over a decade, blaming himself for Garrett's kidnapping, and that unresolved trauma has bled into every aspect of his life. He can't keep a job because he's too busy being consumed by the thought of solving Garrett's case or lashing out whenever he's triggered by the memory — like beating up a father in the mall fountain in front of his kid because Mike confused him for a kidnapper. The ghost children offer to trade Garrett for Abby and without thinking of what that might mean, Mike agrees.
From this moment on, the animatronics see Abby as their target. They want to make her like them, trapping her soul and body inside the Circus Baby animatronic, a character from the game "Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location." (Note: the animatronic also resembles Ella from one of the "FNaF' books). Golden Freddy arrives at the Schmidt home and kills Aunt Jane, hiring a cab to take Abby back to the pizzeria. She thinks it's all fun and games, but the figures have far more sinister plans. Mike quickly realizes the error of his ways and does everything he can to save Abby from becoming one with an animatronic chassis and losing a sibling once again, including enlisting help from Vanessa. Abby tries to evade the animatronics around the pizzeria, hiding in the ball pit while she's pursued by Foxy. She's in danger, but if all of the humans work together, they might just make it out alive.
Remembering the real enemy
Vanessa explains to Mike that the animatronics are filled with the souls and bodies of children captured and killed by William Afton, who is also the person who kidnapped and murdered Mike's little brother, Garrett. Posing as career counselor Steve Raglan, Afton had offered Mike the security gig after realizing he was Garrett's older brother because he's a twisted sicko who gets off on this style of personal torment. Vanessa knew from the beginning who Mike was, as she is Afton's daughter, and has been trying (and failing) to stop him. The thought of Abby being taken is too much for her to bear, so she goes above and beyond trying to help Mike save her, making her an enemy in the eyes of the animatronics who are currently under Afton's control.
The animatronics are hellbent on taking down Mike, Abby, and Vanessa because as long as Afton is in the Spring Bonnie suit, they view him as their leader. It's Abby, however, who realizes the best way she can remind them of who the real enemy is. She quickly draws a picture of the animals with the giant yellow bunny but depicts the bunny as the person responsible for all of the children's deaths and subsequent soul/corpse trappings inside the suits. As they've been stuck inside the suits for so long, they've forgotten who the real enemy is — William Afton. It is then that the animatronics turn on Spring Bonnie, leading to the springlock failure that punctures metal into Afton's body, which effectively traps him inside the suit like a twisted take on an Iron Maiden torture device. As the pizzeria collapses around them all, the humans make their escape while the animatronics go down with their home.
Party hijinks and a body count
The heart of "Five Nights at Freddy's" is that secrets bring pain and that honesty is the only way to survive. Max pretends to be a good babysitter to Abby but is killed along with her brother and their vandal pals when they break into Freddy Fazbear's to make Mike look bad so Aunt Jane can take custody of Abby to gain her guardianship checks from the state. Aunt Jane keeps her connection to Max a secret to the dismay of her lawyer, and it leads to her inevitable demise. Mike keeps the secret truth of what happened to Garrett from Abby, and the pain that consumes him puts both of their lives in danger. Vanessa keeps her identity and that of her father's a secret, which has put not only Mike and Abby in danger, but countless security guards over the years as well.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" is a fun PG-13 fright flick that can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages, and follows the time-honored tradition of using a horror film to teach a moral lesson. Given that game creator Scott Cawthon is a staunch Christian and got his start making faith-based video games, having a moral lesson like "thou shalt not lie" at the heart of the story makes perfect sense.
Friendship is furr-ever
After the events of Mike Schmidt's five nights at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, he and Abby are ready to start their lives anew and move forward as a familial unit. Abby is becoming more social at school, Mike is able to hold down a job, they're both at ease with their own traumas, and the threat of Aunt Jane breaking up their family is in the rearview. Despite the fact they both know the truth about the animatronics, they both feel a kinship with the souls inside the machines. They know that it's not their fault that they're trapped within, and the friendship they experienced is very real. Abby wants to someday reunite with her friends, and while hesitant, Mike doesn't completely write it off.
This leaves the door wide open for Mike and Abby to return for future installments if the films turn into a series. However, after the springlock Bonnie suit failed and crushed William Afton inside, he became "one" with the suit. Fans of the games know this is the creation of the villain known as Springtrap, who will likely take over as the series' Big Bad. With Vanessa still in the hospital recovering from her wounds, is this ending the sign of the trio joining up again to take down Afton once and for all? The ending of "Five Nights at Freddy's" is intentionally inconclusive, and a perfect way to tee up a film franchise. And while we're on the subject of sequel potential ...
Will Five Nights at Freddy's get a sequel?
Months before "Five Nights at Freddy's" debuted, star Matthew Lillard told WeeklyMTG that he signed a three-picture deal in the "FNaF" universe. The details of his deal have not been made public, and it's likely that additional sequels will depend on whether or not this first film performs well at the box office. The film comes from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, the same team that announced a trilogy of "Exorcist" films, starting with "The Exorcist: Believer." The sequel to that film already has a release date, despite the fact that "Believer" was a massive disappointment at the box office. Chances are, Blumhouse and Universal will try and avoid making that same mistake twice. Luckily, even with the day and date release, "FNaF" is poised to be a financial success and after the success of "M3GAN," there's a high probability that "Five Nights at Freddy's" will follow the same path.
As for where the franchise could be heading, both Circus Baby and Balloon Boy were teased throughout the film, so a visit to Circus Baby's Pizza World is a logical future step. However, with Lillard signed on for a three-picture deal, it would be unsurprising if the game "Five Nights at Freddy's 3," became the core plot inspiration for a sequel centered on William Afton as Springtrap, as that's where we last left the character in the film's mid-credits scene. There's also the possibility of doing a prequel film based on "Five Nights at Freddy's 4," or perhaps something that has nothing to do with the game lore at all.
The film made some canonical changes to the story of Mike Schmidt and added Abby and Vanessa, so future films certainly have the freedom to take whatever path feels best for the story.