The release of the Five Nights at Freddy's films has prompted praise from fans of the game, yet heavily critical responses from reviewers of the film. Whose opinions should we trust?

The Five Nights at Freddy's Franchise (FNAF) has existed ever since the first game, FNAF 1 was published in August 2014 by developer Scott Cawthon. The success of the game during 2014 resulted in Warner Bros Pictures in 2015 acquiring the series film rights to produce the film, helped by Scott Cawthon. However, an entire initial script was abandoned in November 2018 and it was not until February 2023 that production commenced.

The film follows the path of a former mall security guard, Mike Schmit, who, needing to care for his younger sister at home by himself, takes a job opportunity at a run-down and abandoned children’s entertainment restaurant. Towards the end of his shifts, from 12am to 6am for 5 days, he discovers that his workplace is connected to the kidnapping and disappearance of his brother that happened when Mike was a child. The children that possess the animatronics inside the restaurants were killed in the 80s but their spirits remain trapped inside the suit and their creator, William Afton, has ordered them to kill anyone they saw in the Pizzeria.

The film received much praise from fans because of how closely it replicated the game, and the intricate details of the Pizzeria that incorporated  many key aspects of the original game. The lore, the background behind the story, is incredibly close to the game's origins, which made the film even more enjoyable at the same time.

On Rotten Tomatoes, critics gave the film a less than outstanding score of 31% from 210 reviews. However, fans gave it an 88% approval rating. Critics described the film as lacking effective jump scares and the pacing incredibly poor. Furthermore they added that the film did not feel like a horror film without any sort of thrills and that the film would "be promptly forgotten by morning" by anyone watched who watched it.

However, the reason why so many fans loved the film and the critics did not, was because the critics did not understand the backstory of the film, and Scott Cawthon even said he wanted to make a movie for the fans. Bearing that in mind, he ignored the critics, following the lore of the game as closely as possible, to make the film as memorable as possible for the fans.