Are you a big Five Nights at Freddy’s fan who just can’t until October to see the movie? Maybe you’re conflicted because FNaF was a big part of your childhood, but Scott Cawthon is an absolute shitbag and you don’t want to give him any more money. And yet, you still need to see a movie starring possessed murder robots living in a Chuck E. Cheese knockoff. Well, do I have the movie for you.
2021’s Willy’s Wonderland is surprisingly clever for a film that features Nicolas Cage beating the shit out of an animatronic ostrich. Possibly inspired by FNaF, though the director denies it, Willy’s Wonderland has a similar premise to the beloved franchise. A serial killer opens a Chuck E. Cheese-style kid’s birthday joint, dies, and possesses the singing birthday robots. Chaos and carnage ensue. Cage plays an unnamed drifter who takes an overnight job as a janitor. Little does he know that he’s intended as a human sacrifice to keep the town safe from the supernatural murder bots inside. , but ends up being far, far more than any of them bargained for.
So much about the film is delightfully weird. There’s blatant product placement for an entirely fictional energy drink. There’s Nic Cage joyfully playing pinball. And when he’s not pounding soda and playing pinball, Cage is trying to save the teens that broke in to rescue him from demonic birthday robots on a rampage.
Why is he doing any of this? Who knows? The movie certainly doesn’t want to tell us, even as his behavior just gets stranger and stranger. His response to the discovery that his employers have locked him inside seems limited to resigned annoyance. He’s more distressed about taking the trash out than being trapped with the sadistic murder bots for the night.
While Cage remains shrouded in mystery, we do get complete backstories on the other characters, a tipsy history of Willy’s hellish Wonderland, and a rundown of the events that led to the film. And then there’s this utter blank space where Cage’s character, credited only as The Janitor, occupies most of the screen. He’s just doing his own weird thing while everyone else’s motivations are clear as day. This choice was entirely deliberate, as Cage and the rest of the creative team decided early on that they wanted to leave Cage’s motivations up to the audience. Cage in particular is really invested in prioritizing audience interpretation over authorial intent, leaving us in a position where we’ll never really know for sure who The Janitor really is.
“The can question is an interesting one, and I hesitate to answer it for you, because your relationship with the movie is far more important than my relationship with the movie, and so you as the audience member can imagine and surmise whatever you want to be in that can.That is a far better answer and reason for the can than anything I could tell you. I want your opinion as to what was in the can, because that was the right opinion.”
Nicholas Cage, Reddit AMA
There are plenty of fan theories about The Janitor, with some believing he’s an escaped robot, an angel, or a demon. My favorite theory is that The Janitor is actually the player avatar in a video game, and all the other characters are NPCs. This explains why those characters are so much more developed, with motivations and backstories. it also explains why they get actual dialogue and Cage doesn’t. The theory also explains his strange behavior, his need to power up with energy drinks, and his leveling up between boss fights. It even explains the cleaning, as one of those weird bonus challenges you can do to earn awards or extra points when you’ve already completed the game once already. But of course, it’s still only a theory, no matter how well it fits, and there’s no way to know for sure.
It’s a good movie, overall. It’s schlocky and fun and trope-y, yet somehow clever with it. And watching Cage clean the place between smackdowns has the same satisfying appeal of scrolling the Cleantok tag on TikTok. If you like B movies and satanic electronics out for blood, you should definitely watch Willy’s Wonderland. And let us know what you think was going on with The Janitor in the comments!
(featured image: Screen Media Films)
