The Ending of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Explained

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is not the place you want to take your little sister to hang out, especially if you’re already suffering from PTSD after losing one sibling. But if you’ve already seen the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, you probably know that.

This film has left audiences clinging to the edge of their seats at home and in the theaters.

As the credits roll and the echo of eerie music fades, fans of the franchise are treated to a haunting glimpse of what may lurk ahead.

Let’s delve into the dark revelations of the ending and unpack its implications for the future of the story on the screen.

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The Plot of Five Nights at Freddy’s

The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, a supernatural horror film released in 2023 in theaters and on Peacock. It follows the eerie events at the once-popular Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, now an abandoned family entertainment center with a dark past.

The movie opens in the abandoned corridors of the pizzeria, where an unsuspecting night guard is ensnared and brutally executed. Later, we meet Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a mall cop who excessively beats up a man he wrongly believed was a kidnapper. Out of work and luck, he is sent to visit career counselor named Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard). Steve helps Mike become the night watchman role at the eerie pizzeria to prevent his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) from being claimed by social services and their aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson).

Mike is a complicated guy. He has nightmares of his brother’s unsolved kidnapping and phantom-like children. Plagued by recurring nightmares, Mike is once again assaulted by the children. After waking from the ordeal, Police officer Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail) tends to his injuries and educates him on the pizzeria’s dark history of missing children from the 1980s.

Later that night, Jane has some kids break into the place to make Mike look bad and for her to get custody of Abby so she can collect a check. But the animatronic mascots—Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Mr. Cupcake—actually come alive and kill Jane’s minions.

Because one of Jane’s minions was Abby’s babysitter, Mike now has to bring his sister to work so she’s not left home alone. Vanessa warns Mike of the dangers of involving Abby, a caution he ignores.

The sentient animatronics that show affection towards Abby but regard Mike with suspicion. Mike learns that these mechanical beings are vessels for the souls of vanished children, led by a blond boy who cryptically speaks of a “yellow rabbit.”

Abby and Mike’s bond grows, though it’s marred by an incident where Abby gets electrocuted by an animatronic’s guitar. Mike’s desperation to solve a past kidnapping drives him to risky lengths, where he pops sleeping pills to enter his dream world and overdoses.

In the dream world, the five kids tell Mike that he can have Garret, the brother he lost, back. He just has to give them Abby. Mike accepts initially, but then changes his mind. When he does that they, they strap him to a torture device.

While that happens Abby is lured back to the pizzeria by an animatronic – which kills her aunt Jane, who was babysitting. Mike is able to escape from the trap, but Foxy wounds him deeply.

The End of Five Nights at Freddy’s Explained

Vanessa intervenes and patches up Mike’s wounds and during a moment of vulnerability, she discloses her identity as the kid of William Afton, the notorious murderer responsible for the deaths of Garrett and others, whose spirits he enslaved within the animatronics.

Obviously, Mike snaps out of his funk and realizes he has to protect abby from a similar fate. He gears up to confront the mechanical horde. He successfully subdues several of them and narrowly rescues Abby from Chica’s lethal intent. However, amidst the chaos, Abby is targeted by Foxy, and Mike is blindsided by Mr. Cupcake.

Mike is able to defeat all the animatronics, but they then get reactivated by Steve, who is revealed to actually be Afton. Steve wears a Yellow rabbit suit. Steve knocks Mike out.

It seems like Steve is going to win, but Abby has an idea. In order to make the machines not listen to Steve, she draws a picture of him murdering the children that went missing. This makes them realize he is their killer. Steve wounds Vanessa who tries to stop him during this.

The animatronics listen to Abby and turn on Steve. He’s killed as they tear apart his suit and drag him into a back room to finish him off. But before he dies, he warns them that he always finds a way to come back.

Mike and Abby carry an injured Vanessa out of danger. Then she is taken to a hospital and is in a coma. Mike continues to look after Abby as they resume their normal lives, but anny always wants to go back to visit her animatronic friends. Mike says they may some day go back…

The Post Credits Scene of Five Nights at Freddy’s Explained

The post-credits scene of the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie teases the introduction of a new animatronic character known as Balloon Boy, or “BB.”

This scene suggests potential inspiration for a sequel to the movie, hinting at a deeper exploration of the lore established in the games.

As the screen darkens and the final notes of the post-credits scene of Five Nights at Freddy’s linger ominously in the air, one thing is clear: the nightmare is far from over. With the introduction of Balloon Boy, the stage is set for a continuation of the sinister saga that has captivated gamers and moviegoers alike.

The implications of this scene stretch beyond a mere tease; they invite us into a larger, more malevolent world of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where danger lurks in every shadow.

But we’ll have to wait until the sequel to see what happens.

Let me know what you think in the comments.