Is 'Five Nights at Freddy's' too scary for kids? We asked parents who saw it (2024)

This post contains spoilers for "Five Nights at Freddy's."

"Five Nights at Freddy's" is a hit both at the box office and on Peaco*ck, where it just became the most watched entertainment title in the streaming service's history. Peaco*ck is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY's parent company.

The PG-13-rated supernatural horror flick, which was directed by Emma Tammi, is based on a popular video game series of the same name created by Scott Cawthon.

The movie tells the story of down-on-his-luck security guard Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), who's hired to watch over a defunct pizza parlor from the 1980s called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.

The catch? Something truly evil has been happening inside Freddy's and it may have something to do with Mike's long-ago kidnapped brother. The evil also stands to harm Mike's 10-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio).

Given the popularity of the video game, kids are clamoring to see "Five Nights at Freddy's" — but will it inspire nightmares? The movie teems with enough violence, gore and jump scares to have some parents questioning if their kids can handle it.

Should kids watch 'Five Nights at Freddy's'?

Betsy Bozdech, editorial director of Common Sense Media, an independent organization that rates and curates content for children tells TODAY.com that the "Five Nights at Freddy's" may be too grisly for some adolescents.

"The whole scariness/horror/violence spectrum depends so much on how old and developmentally ready kids are for things," Bozdech explains.

That said, the movie is "pretty darn scary," says Bozdech. "The monsters are like if Chuck E. Cheese came to life and tried to kill you."

Common Sense Media deemed the movie suitable for kids 14 and up, cautioning about its many depictions of violence and terror. Those include scenes showing young children being abducted, a man getting killed by a whirling saw, monsters biting a man in half and a man choking and then stabbing a woman.

Rita Danielle Donohue-Simmons, a mom from Largo, Florida, took her 13-year-old daughter Belle Simmons, an avid fan of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" video games, to see the movie on opening night.

Donohue-Simmons said she thought the movie's "gore," while mostly "tame," warranted a PG-13 rating. "I think it’s an age appropriate horror/thriller movie that kids can enjoy with adults," she told TODAY.com in a message.

'Kids are used to the games'

While 13 seems a suitable age to view the movie, Dononue-Simmons said some kids aged 10 to 12 who are familiar with the "lore" of the video game series would probably be fine watching the movie.

Those kids have "likely seen video games or shows that are more violent," than "Five Nights at Freddy's," she explained.

That's a sentiment that Common Sense Media has heard repeatedly from parents.

“We’re seeing user reviews on our website where parents and kids are giving ("Five Nights at Freddy's") a lower age rating than we do ... and I think some of that may be because the kids are used to the games and they know what to expect," explained Bozdech.

"It might be different if they were experiencing the movie as a whole new property. But they know the characters. They know the drill," she added.

John A. Cecil, a playwright in New York City, took his 10-year-old son, Archer, and a friend to see "Five Nights at Freddy's" on opening day.

Though Cecil says the movie's plot was "indecipherable" to him, he had "fun" observing Archer and his pal, both fans of the video game series, "because they were so enthusiastic about it," he tells TODAY.com.

The movie is "not particularly bloody and there’s no nudity,” Cecil says. So he had few qualms about Archer seeing scenes he couldn't handle.

One thing that did make Cecil squirm a bit was when he learned that the movie's villain kidnapped young kids. Cecil worried the villain was a "child predator."

But afterward, when he questioned Archer and his friend about what they thought the villain's "motivation" was, it was clear the two were oblivious to that idea. "They didn’t seem to think about that at all," Cecil says.

Cecil says he and another parent he knows compared "Five Nights at Freddy's" to "Escape to Witch Mountain” and other "dark Disney movies" from the the 1970s.

“In hindsight, those movies are not dark at all, but at the time it was spooky cool," he says.

The 'benefit' of kids watching the movie a trusted adult

For some adolescents, "Five Nights at Freddy's may be the first horror movie they ever watch.

They'll benefit from doing so with a parent or guardian they trust, Bozdech says.

“I do think there’s value for kids experiencing scary moments in a safe environment,” she says. “Like seeing things that push the envelope a little bit, see what it feels like to be scared, a little terrified. As long as they know they’re in a safe place with loving people, that can be kind of fun and kind of exciting.”