An Analysis of Vanessa's Dream Sequence (and why it's severely underappreciated In a not so good movie)
With all the exciting news about the series recently and the 3rd movie on the way, i wanted to yap extensively and get something off my chest about the 2nd film. I feel very critical about the first two movies and what I think doesn't work about their execution, intentions, and horror, but there's something I absolutely adore that I don't see many people talk about, that being Vanessa's dream in the 2nd movie. The cool stuff about that scene i feel is overshadowed by the mysterious Circus Baby cameo in it and it's “lore” implications, but i think the scene in the context of the story is very well done in how it uses both the characters and real tension to imply more about Vanessa's relationship and William as a person, it's something I'd love to see more of in the third. To review, Michael suggests Vanessa do something similar to him going back to when Garrett was taken in the previous movie, all in order to reconcile with the trauma she still holds. After going through an episode at the gym, she takes Mike's advice and enters her own dream.
The dream starts with her standing inside her childhood home, she walks up the stairs to see William at the end of the hall and taunts him, suddenly, the doors along the hall swing open and he marches toward her. I think Matthew Lillard is great as William Afton, not a hot take at all, his performance adds to the tension that scene created as those doors swing open and obscure him in that dimly lit hall until you can suddenly see him halfway down the corridor walking with intent. She runs back down the stairs and tries to exit the front door, but she's locked in. She tells William, who is standing above her on the balcony, “You can't keep me here. I'm leaving”, and this is where I think this scene begins in telling its story. “Dream Theory” as Micheal applied it, is going into your subconscious to view memories from a new perspective, being able to unlock details or events your mind may have repressed, meaning nothing in these dreams are totally fabricated and are at the very least representative if not direct recreations of real events. This moment where she's at the door is where I feel the movie begins to lay out details about Vanessa and William's story, starting with her attempt to leave her father at one point and William soon engaging in manipulation tactics...
As William stands on the balcony, he tells Vanessa how she's his “favorite”, he yells at the top of his lungs “Don't you know that i love you? Don't you know that I care about you?” and Matthew Lillard's delivery does a lot to convey the essence of this scene. It seems widely accepted that William Afton as a character is a child abuser, it seems like Scott feels a certain way about fatherhood given how this is a recurring theme with adults in the series. It's common in real life abusers to see their actions as benevolent, that their abuse is for the good of their victim and they're not at fault for any harm they inflict. For all the flack the movies get for being "toned down" and kid-friendly, it actually gives William the realistic traits of a child abuser and you feel it in how Matthew Lillard delivers these lines. You see the true nature of his “love” in how he screams these words at his fearful daughter as he stands above her. His idea of “love” is rooted in aggression and power, this kind of intimidation and love-bombing is likely why Vanessa was never able to truly leave her father for much of her life.
Vanessa walks away toward the kitchen where William is once again standing in the dark, he grabs a knife and stands there. Vanessa, afraid, runs back up the stairs and the camera cuts to the hall, Vanessa is now much younger. We hear him say “You are my child, you have a purpose” as she runs down the same hallway William stood in at the beginning of the scene. She enters her father’s workshop and hides - William is now in a noticeably different outfit, the same apron he wears in that picture of him and Henry in the workshop. This is the part that made me realize this scene is implying more than “William being scary” and want to look over the entire scene again. The subtlety and implications it has is super interesting to me, the dream is implied to not be a miscellaneous nightmare where William is being evil, it's a representation of multiple different events throughout her life told through the lens of her own memories and emotions. Her backstory and William's characterization is shown and told through the symbolism on screen, and i rarely see people give it credit for how well it's written, directed, and performed.
In the workshop, Vanessa hides. You can hear William whistling, entering the room, and asking “Where are you gonna run to?”, which is once again very well delivered - The tonal shift of his aggressive outburst above the stairs to this almost gleeful prowl emphasizes this is a specific event in Vanessa's life, it also shows how natural this behavior is to him, he's hunting down his own kids and to him it's like nothing, he enjoys the sense of power in hunting and intimidating people. Ignoring the Circus Baby cameo, William appears next to Vanessa and proclaims she will always be his, he's consistently shown to see his children as property, something to be created with function and obedience like robots, which i really like, it's interesting characterization.
Finally, she breaks from his grasp and we end up back at the hallway, now with Vanessa on the far end and William by the stairs, they've swapped places with her now pursuing William. Vanessa is now in her police uniform, firing her gun at her father twice and sending William falling off the balcony. William finally utters “You shall always be mine”. This is us reaching the most recent events of her life, the events of these movies and the moment she finally resists her father, goes so far as to shoot him, and while that shot didn't stop him then, in her dream she's the one to finally put him down with the 2nd bullet. Even after his death, she hears him proclaim that she still belongs to him - and with that, she finally wakes up. I saw a comment under a clip of this scene, I liked one of their bullet points theorizing that maybe Vanessa initially became a police officer to reclaim a sense of control, i like the idea she was hoping that by being in a position of authority, she could actually fight back against her abuser - but just like before, she couldn't leave, she came back and he continued to use her. Eventually she was able to fight against him, but he's still not gone, his manipulation still has a hold on her which is what we see her struggling with after the events of the first film.
In conclusion… maybe all of that was super obvious but i just wanted to find somewhere to yap about it. I think a lot of people take general criticism of popular media as being "hateful", but i think any constructive criticism innately comes from seeing potential and appreciation of what's there. After the critical failure of both movies, people believe Scott is a bad writer, and while i think he's flawed and needs experienced people to weigh in on his scripts, he isn't stupid and there are examples where his ideas and writing shine greatly for what they are. I think these films could've been and could still be genuinely good if they embrace the horror, characters, and world with sincerity. I wish the rest of this movie felt as tense as this 3½ minute sequence. For me, it's the kind of theorizing that's more about interpreting the truth than blindly searching for it. I hope FNAF 3 is the best it can be, I wouldn't still be a fan if I didn't think this series deserves that.