‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ age rating and parents guide

For many horror fans, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie (FNaF) represents the most important event of the Holiday season. But what do you need to know if you’re a parent when it comes to allowing your kid to watch it?

Based on the hit video game series of the same name, FNaF was the little indie game that could, thanks to its unique gameplay, art design, story, and, most of all, jump scares. The latter quality made FNaF particularly popular among streamers and YouTubers, like PewDiePie and CoryXKenshin, eliciting fun reactions when they got scared. This popularity only fueled further interest, and the initial game spawned a number of sequels.

Now, a FNaF movie is upon us, and its plot and general vibe very much resemble the games. We follow Josh Hutcherson‘s character as he takes on the security guard duties of a defunct restaurant, Freddy Fazber’s Pizza. Soon enough, strange things start to happen as the animatronic mascots appear more lively than they should be. But just how scary is the movie?

What you need to know before letting a child watch the FNaF movie

FNaF has a rating of “PG-13 for strong violent content, bloody images, and language.” Beyond that, we won’t really have more information in terms of the finer details of particular scenes that might contain content that’s inappropriate for kids since the movie doesn’t come out until Oct. 27. As Common Sense Media writes about the forthcoming movie:

“Parents need to know that Five Nights at Freddy’s is based on the popular same-named video game franchise and is expected to be a supernatural tale about four animatronics that come to life after hours at a once-popular restaurant, murdering anyone who dares to poke around after closing.”

The article went on to state that even though the film is “expected primarily to be focused on horror and scares, it may also have some funny, heartwarming elements.”

With that in mind, you may be enlightened by the fact that the original 2014 FNaF video game is noted on IMDb as having no sex, nudity, profanity, drugs, alcohol, or smoking whatsoever and a violence and gore rating of “mild.” Primarily, the terror isn’t achieved by actual violence seen in-game but by extremely effective jump scares. Thus, the “frightening and intense scenes” section of the parent guide is listed as “severe.” We’re not saying the movie version will be a one-to-one adaptation in this regard, but perhaps it will be in the same relative ballpark of what to expect. However, take this information at your own risk.

FNaF comes to theaters and Peacock on Oct. 27.