Joy Bedford

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ can’t decide what it wants to be

An initial glimpse into “Five Nights at Freddy’s” (2023) doesn’t look positive: A Blumhouse-produced adaptation of a 2014 indie video game, the film has been stuck in various stages of production for eight years. Under the surface, however, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” gives new viewers and longtime game series fans a truly unusual experience. Not fully divorced from the game’s extensive and mysterious lore nor fully attached to it, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” attempts to make the in-between work. As far as whether it works — well, that all depends on how willing viewers are to follow its wild shifts in tone through the end.