Five Nights at Freddy's: release date, reviews, cast, plot, trailer and everything we know

Five Nights at Freddy's animatronics: Bonnie the Bunny, Freddy Fazbear, and Chica the Chick
Bonnie the Bunny, Freddy Fazbear, and Chica the Chick are some of the animatronics featured in the movie. (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Five Nights At Freddy's joins the 2023 horror movie slate alongside the likes of Saw X and The Exorcist: Believer, meaning the cinemas are flooded with horror offerings to celebrate Halloween.

Based on the anxiety-inducing video game series, we follow a night security guard who takes a job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, but it turns out there's more to this job than meets the eye and his life is soon in danger.

Freddy Fazbear is the lovable mascot of the local pizzeria and he is joined by other animal animatronics who used to perform songs and entertain families by day, but by night, they become murderous, wandering the halls of the now abandoned pizzeria.

The series is produced by horror aficionados Blumhouse who have previously brought us the likes of M3GAN, The Black Phone, and The Invisible Man, so it's looking like the adaptation is in very good hands.

Are you ready for Freddy? If so, read on to find out everything you need to know about the movie...

Five Nights At Freddy's release date

Five Nights At Freddy arrives in cinemas worldwide on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.

It will simultaneously be released on the streaming service Peacock for US audiences. 

Five Night's at Freddy's plot

Freddy Fazbear standing alongside the movie's director, Emma Tammi

Freddy Fazbear standing alongside the movie's director, Emma Tammi. (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

According to the official website, the plot for the movie is: "The film follows Mike, a troubled young man caring for his 10-year-old sister Abby and haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother more than a decade before.

"Recently fired and desperate for work so that he can keep custody of Abby, Mike agrees to take a position as a night security guard at an abandoned theme restaurant: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria."

It adds: "But Mike soon discovers that nothing at Freddy’s is what it seems. With the aid of Vanessa, a local police officer, Mike’s nights at Freddy’s will lead him into unexplainable encounters with the supernatural and drag him into the black heart of an unspeakable nightmare."

Five Nights at Freddy's cast

Matthew Lillard as Steve Raglan in Five Nights at Freddy's.

Horror icon Matthew Lillard joins the Five Nights at Freddy's cast. (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Josh Hutcherson leads the cast as Mike Schmidt, a new security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. This is the player-controlled role of the Five Nights at Freddy's video game series, so fans are very familiar with him!

Piper Rubio stars as Abby, Mike's younger sister, whom he is very close to and has custody over. Mary Stuart Masterson plays their Aunt Jane, and Elizabeth Lail is Vanessa, a local police officer.

Finally, Scream star Matthew Lillard plays Steve Raglan, Mike's career counselor.

Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail in Five Nights at Freddy's

Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail as Mike and Vanessa. (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

We also have confirmed voice actors for each of the animatronics, which are as follows; Kevin Foster as Freddy Fazbear, Jade Kindar-Martin as Bonnie, Jessica Weiss as Chica and Roger Joseph Manning Jr. as Foxy.

Five Nights at Freddy's reviews

Unfortunately, Five Nights at Freddy's has been met with mostly negative reviews from critics. In our 2.5 star review, we praised the costume and set designs as well as Matthew Lillard's performance, but criticised the lack of scares and how it deviates from the game. 

Is there a trailer?

Yes, and it's certainly gripping stuff! The creepy game environment comes to life in the trailer, where we get to see the inside of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and learn more about the creepy lore behind the restaurant.

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Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress