Five Nights at Freddy’s | 2023 | PG-13 | – 0.6.3

Why is “Five Nights at Freddy’s” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong violent content, bloody images and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes many scenes of large animatronic characters moving with loud footfalls and seeming threatening with some encounters ending in death and bloodshed, a mechanism that grinds or cuts people’s faces off, a stabbing, a kidnapping and discussions of numerous kidnapped children, several thrown punches, a few arguments, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Based on the video game: A man (Josh Hutcherson) is haunted by the kidnapping of his younger brother when they were children and cannot hold down a job because of nightmares and the inability to give up on the possibility of finding him. When he gets a security job at a defunct pizzeria and arcade, some unusual characters seem able to provide some answers. Also with Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard and Mary Stuart Masterson. Directed by Emma Tammi. [Running Time: 1:50]

Five Nights at Freddy’s SEX/NUDITY 0

 – None.

Five Nights at Freddy’s VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 – A man unscrews a vent grate as something pounds on a door behind him knocking over furniture piled up as a blockade; the man crawls through the vent shaft to a room where he is chased by something unseen, he screams off-screen and we then see the man strapped into a chair as a device with spinning blades moves toward his face and he screams again (we see the man dead later with badly mangled facial features). A man sees something move on top of a large refrigerator, he opens the door and sees nothing, then sees a cupcake with large eyes and when the man turns around the cupcake is held by an animatronic character, it flies toward the man and attaches itself to his face (the man screams and we see his body with a bloody face later).
► A man awakens clamped into a chair as a mechanism with spinning blades moves toward his face; he frees himself before being harmed. A man screams and runs away from an animatronic character, and he is caught and slammed against a wall several times (we see blood splatter on the wall); a cupcake tries to open a vent grate being held closed by a man, a door in the room opens, the man walks out and something unseen charges toward him as he screams. A woman is grabbed by something unseen and we hear a loud noise as she falls to the floor. A man falls asleep, has a nightmare about his younger brother being kidnapped and he tries to talk to other children that appear in the dream; one slashes the man on the arm, the child screams and his eyes bleed thick dark blood and we see a bloody cut on the man’s arm later; a similar nightmare causes multiple blood injuries on the man’s arms, legs and abdomen. A woman points a gun at an animatronic character, pulls the trigger grazing it, the character lifts her off the floor by the throat, squeezes and then stabs her in the abdomen (we see her fall to the floor and she is later shown unconscious in a hospital). A man working security at a shopping mall sees a man grab a young boy by the arm and pull him away angrily; the security guard assumes the man is kidnapping the child and chases him, tackles him into a fountain and punches him in the face repeatedly.
► We hear a loud thud in a house and see a woman lying motionless on the floor (her feet are visible with no blood evident); a child sees the woman and a boy tells her it’s time to go play and that the woman fell asleep. A man crawls through a vent shaft and sneaks into a room where animatronic characters are standing on a stage; the man spills water on the stage and shoots a taser into the water, shocking two characters, and they fall to the floor with sparks around them. An animatronic character bites the abdomen of another animatronic character tearing a large hole in it and we see a metal framework exposed and hear it slamming shut several times causing the character pain. A young girl walks hand-in-hand with an animatronic character that picks the child up and tries to put her in a metal framework with teeth on it; the child struggles and a man zaps the character with a taser (it falls motionless with sparks flickering around it) and the child gets away. An animatronic character chases a man and bites him on the leg, chomping and chewing as the man screams and pushes a cattle prod into its mouth, zapping it. An animatronic character searches for a young girl and she hides in a ball pit undetected. An animatronic character laughs and moves toward a man, throws the man onto the floor and threatens him. Several animatronic characters move toward another animatronic character as it calls them names.
► A boy chases his younger brother in the back of a car driving away, as the child is kidnapped. A man has nightmares about his younger brother being kidnapped in several scenes; he encounters other children in the dream and chases them. A young girl touches guitar strings attached to an animatronic character and she is shocked and thrown unconscious (she is OK later). A man and a woman plan to break into an abandoned arcade and steal things to make a man working security there lose his job; we see them shatter the glass on several arcades and throw things on the floor. We hear about a spring-loaded cage inside animatronic characters, a woman touches a cage with a broom handle and it snaps shut.
► A man unlocks an abandoned arcade and enters the building; he hears a noise and sees animatronic characters behind a curtain that startle him. A man opens a locker and is startled by a small doll inside it. A driver is shocked twice when he sees a large animatronic character in the backseat of his taxi and later a small doll in the front seat; he yells and throws his arms up. A man carries a young girl over his shoulder as she screams and says that she wants to go to work with him; he puts her in her room and leaves as a babysitter arrives.
► A woman threatens to shoot a man. A woman threatens a man for the custody of a young girl (the man’s sister) and complains that the man is incapable of caring for the child, accusing him of criminal endangerment. A man describes a security job as having a high turnover rate. A man says that he cannot work nights. A man tells a young girl that kids that don’t eat their food stay the same size. A child says of a woman, “I hate her. She’s mean and she smells like cigarettes.” A young girl says that several animatronic characters were tickling her and that they told her she was going to die. A reference is made to ghost children.
► A child makes a drawing of a young boy in the back of a car being kidnapped. A child makes a drawing depicting a large monster killing several children (we see “X” marks on the faces of the children and blood on the end of a knife). An animatronic character has a hook for a hand.

Five Nights at Freddy’s LANGUAGE 3

 – 1 scatological term, 2 anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (jerk, miserable dump, head case, idiot, degenerate, crazy, drunks, vagrants, highly unlikely, weirdos, cruel, bad man, nasty, wretched, rotten little beasts, suspicious), exclamations (frickin, what is your deal, drop this, let it go, screw you, calm down, oh my goodness). | profanity glossary |

Five Nights at Freddy’s SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man takes prescription sleep medication in a few scenes. A child says that a woman smells like cigarettes (we do not see her smoke).

Five Nights at Freddy’s DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Kidnapping, serial murder, parental, dream theory, insubordination.

Five Nights at Freddy’s MESSAGE

 – Coming to terms with traumatic events can be challenging.