There's a picture of Skeet and Lillard together. I didn't recognize him at all. Looks totally different. Not just older.

I saw this in a packed house tonight for Dolby Cinema.

Unless you’re a huge fan of the FNAF IP, I say skip it. I thought the first one was only okay at best. This one was dumb. The ending especially was really stupid.

and there is a mid credit scene that does tease another sequel.

I read the AV Club’s roundly negative review this morning as it was featured in their daily email blast. Then, out of curiosity that their reviewer might be an ornery old outlier, I decided to check some of the other pro and semi-pro reviews that are aggregated via the IMDb app on my phone and they’re almost universally scathing. Just awful. One thing I did notice, in the reviews that had comments under them, were posts from seemingly older people commenting that while they likewise thought the movie was shit as a movie, they saw it in packed theaters like you did and the response from the target audience – tweens and teenage gamers and presumably mostly boys at that – was predictably positive. Was that the vibe at your screening?

I didn’t like the first movie at all*. Granted I didn’t play the game but in all fairness that shouldn’t be a prerequisite to enjoy a movie based on a game. Do gamers ‘get more’ out of video game adaptations than I do? Of course, but that’s no excuse for filmmakers not to craft a story and visuals that can still compel audience members who don’t give a shit about the original game. I’ve seen plenty of video game adaptations that were enjoyable (to whatever degree) as movies even though I knew absolutely nothing about the gameplay that inspired them. That’s not always easy to pull off, but it sounds like with this film they didn’t even bother trying.

Nearly all of the reviews paint this FREDDY sequel as a gruelling gauntlet of Easter Eggs (and little else) that will appeal almost exclusively to FNAF gamers while offering almost nothing of substance (or sense) to the uninitiated. I’m curious if that was the general vibe in DJariya’s screening since the full house was presumably top-heavy with fan(boy)s who may not have been there for a cinematic experience so much as a social media-ready “event” they can race online to rave about?

Based on seeing the first movie on DVD from the library, I have zero interest in this sequel regardless of the reviews, but I do wonder if a strong box office performance for it will only prove, sadly, that a contemporary game spinoff need only be loaded with references to be a smash these days.

(*fwiw, I thought the R-rated Nic Cage B-movie knockoff WILLY’S WONDERLAND – hardly a classic – was an infinitely better take on the ‘haunted restaurant animatronics’ concept than the first FREDDY movie, and I suspect this sequel won’t change that opinion if I ever bother to watch it).

The mid-credit scene got some Ohs! It was completely lost to me.

I caught the first one on streaming when it did the whole day and date release. I fell asleep about halfway through and woke up for the climax. I was only vaguely familiar with the IP , and was able to figure out what was going on rather well, but definitely not my thing. Will skip this one. More power to those who enjoy it.

Saw this today and you really gotta believe that in this universe nothing makes sense. But, the audience loved it and I loved that they loved it and that made for an alright time. It's great to see young people coming out to support this cause my theater (auditorium and lobby) were packed.

I can only say that you will have a bad time with this movie if you never saw the first one and have no familiarity with the games, like me. It may still be a bad time even if you do mostly know what’s going on, although the heavily teenage crowd, including my kid and his friends, seemed to enjoy it well enough.

Coming to Peacock Fri April 3, 2026