Bendy

Bendy (known as Bendy and the Ink Machine in other territories) is a 2026 American computer-animated survival horror comedy film based on the video game of the same name by The Meatly Games. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation on January 16, 2026.

Directed by David Soren with the screenplay by Nicholas Stoller, the film stars the voices of Will Ryan, Lauren Synger, David Eddings, Paul "theMeatly" Crawford, Aaron Landon, and Kristen Schaal. The film follows Bendy the Ink Demon, Boris the Wolf and Alice Angel being turn into horrible monsters by Joey Drew, and Henry tries to see Joey's work.

Plot
In 1966, a retired animator named Henry Stein returns to his old animation studio after receiving an invite from his friend Joey Drew, who has something he wants to show him. In the workshop, Henry finds the place in a state of disarray, with several Bendy cutouts left around the area. He soon finds a large lift/dock, where he raises the Ink Machine from the darkness and tries to find a way to turn it on. Through an audio log left by janitor Wally Franks, Henry learns that six objects are needed to start the Ink Machine in some kind of ritual. While searching around, he finds a dissected, and even stranger, physical version of the cartoon character of Boris the Wolf, strapped to an operation table. After starting the Ink Machine, Henry is attacked by a malformed, lankier version of the studio’s mascot, Bendy, dubbed Ink Bendy. The workshop begins to collapse in on itself, and just before he can run through the exit, the floor breaks beneath his feet, sending him deeper into the studio.

In the basement, Henry is forced to drain a few flooded stairwells of ink. After finding a fire axe, he makes his way into a room filled with coffins and a pentagram, where he promptly faints after having several flashes of the Ink Machine and Ink Bendy. After waking up from his coma, Henry traverses through a utility shaft and finds himself in the studio’s abandoned music department, ran by director Sammy Lawrence. Henry tries to leave through the main stairwell but finds it flooded. Through several audio logs left by Sammy, projectionist Norman Polk and lyricist Jack Fain, Henry learns that runoff from the Ink Machine flooded several rooms below it, particularly the music department stairwell. This led to the installation of a large pump switch in Sammy’s office, itself being blocked by a massive leak.

After encountering several inky monsters, including a transformed version of Jack Fain, Henry finally drains the stairwell. However, before he can exit, he is knocked unconscious by an ink transformed Sammy Lawrence, who ties him up in his lair. Sammy came to worship Ink Bendy as a diety and plans to sacrifice Henry in exchange for his humanity. Before the ritual can be completed, Sammy is attacked by Ink Bendy in his recording room as Henry escapes. After outrunning Ink Bendy, Henry encounters another clone of Boris the Wolf, who takes him to his safehouse deeper in the studio.

Outside of the safehouse, Henry and Boris are separated when Boris enters the ducts to open a blast door. Once the door is open, Henry finds the Heavy Toys Department, run by Irish toymaker Shawn Flynn. There, he encounters a deformed version of Alice Angel, who takes a liking to him and demands that he follow her. While walking through the winding hallways, Henry and Boris are reunited. Boris had collected a Gent Pipe on his travels and offers it to Henry to use in combat.

After an encounter with a malformed version of Charley from The Butcher Gang, the duo find a lift, which they use to travel to Level 9, where Alice is waiting for them. After Alice opens another blast door, Henry and Boris come across a sea of Boris and Butcher Gang clones, all strapped to operation tables with their chests opened. Alice explains that these clones were used to keep herself together and as she puts it, “beautiful’. In the next room, Henry finds Alice electrocuting another Butcher Gang clone. Alice contemplates over killing Henry, before quickly deciding that he could be used for good and sends him off to collect several objects to better herself with. As he runs around looking for these objects, Henry encounters Ink Bendy, the Butcher Gang, and even a transformed version of Norman Polk dubbed The Projectionist due to the projector replacing his head. When her tasks are complete, Alice allows Henry to ascend to the top of the studio and escape. However, she discovers that Henry had brought a Boris clone with him, and sends the elevator crashing down to Level S, where she kidnaps Boris.

Down on Level S, Henry traverses through the studio’s archives and a cage-filled cavern, before coming across a large warehouse full of props for the uncompleted Bendy Land, designed by famous park designer Bertrum Peidmont. After encountering The Butcher Gang and The Projectionist again, along with an ink transformed version of Bertrum encased inside a ride, Henry finally opens up a haunted house ride, where he believes Alice has taken Boris. While riding through a ballroom, Henry’s cart is tossed off the rails by his old buddy; Boris, who has been turned into a hulking, mindless brute-like shadow of his former self. With no other choice but to kill his friend, Henry creates several Gent Pipes using a nearby Ink Maker and stabs them into Boris’ open chest cavity. Without a minion, Alice charges into the ballroom to kill Henry herself but is stabbed through the chest by two Alice Angel and Boris clones, named Allison Angel and Tom respectively.

Allison and Tom capture Henry and take him to their hideout deeper into the studio, where he is locked in a small, cramped cell. While Tom’s distrustful attitude toward Henry remains affirmative, Allison is keen to open up towards him, having regular conversations while Tom is away patrolling the studio and even letting him know about a mystical device dubbed the “Seeing Tool”, which when looked through can reveal hidden ink scrawlings invisible to the naked eye. While viewing the secret messages in his cell, Henry learns through extremely vague clues that a major catalyst to his escape from the studio was inside a vault.

Later, Tom encounters The Ink Demon during a regular petrol shift, which alerts him of their whereabouts. After pinpointing their location, he tries to enter via pipes, causing several loud bangs. Allison and Tom flee, leaving Henry for dead. However, using the “Seeing Tool” to guide his way, he escapes his cell with another Gent Pipe stowed away in his cell toilet’s water tank. After traversing through some flooded tunnels with a makeshift boat, Henry finds himself at a small shanty town filled with small huts and towers. As he tries to enter a boarded shrine-esque doorway, he is ambushed by an old friend; Sammy Lawrence, wielding an axe and intent on killing Henry. During their duel, Sammy’s mask is knocked off, and he feigns embarrassment long enough to get Henry close enough for him to knock him to the ground.

Before Henry can be beheaded, Tom and Allison arrive and cleave Sammy in the side of his head, killing him instantly. Sammy’s death angers the citizens of the town, and they ambush Tom, Henry and Allison. After successfully murdering the entire town, the cavalry separated as the floor beneath Henry gives way while traversing a decrepit hallway, landing himself in the studio’s administration department. Through an audio log left by GENT transfer Thomas Connor, he learns that the Ink Machine created life-sized cartoon figures that were capable of speech and movement. He also learns that the souls of his fellow coworkers were used to create these figures, resulting in the freaky abominations such as Ink Bendy that he had become accustomed to. Ink Bendy was the first and only figure of his cartoon counterpart to emerge from the machine and was never liked due to his lack of a soul.

While attempting to put a complex draining mechanism back together to drain the Film Vault entrance, Henry begins to feel the presence of Ink Bendy around him, as if he was following him to the vault. In the vault, Henry reunites with Allison and Tom, but finds that what he needed was taken, as he finds a secret message above an ink-covered box reading “THE DEMON HAS TAKEN IT.” With no other choice, the trio enters Ink Bendy’s lair. After passing by Ink Bendy undetected, Henry, Allison and Tom find The True Ink Machine, surrounded by a sea of ink. As Allison and Tom are made of ink and cannot travel through it without dying, Henry must travel alone into the machine. Inside, he finds Ink Bendy’s throne, along with an audio log left by Joey Drew. He tells Henry that he can save all of his transformed employees and himself using “THE END”, a special film reel that can reset the world.

Before Henry can place the sacred reel in the reel holder beside the throne, Ink Bendy appears and transforms into a larger, beastly version of himself and backhands him through a wall. After escaping from Beast Bendy, Henry reenters the throne room and activates “THE END”. The projectors surrounding the throne flash to life, projecting “THE END” onto the walls, causing Beast Bendy to disintegrate.

Cast

 * Will Ryan as:
 * Bendy; The biggest character in the story, whose name is Bendy is a dancing cartoon demon whose image appears on posters and life-sized cutouts throughout the studio. A monstrous, more humanoid version of him also haunts the studio, covering the walls in black ink whenever he appears. Unlike other enemies, "Bendy" is not affected by weapons, forcing Henry to run and hide whenever the demon appears.
 * Boris the Wolf; A wolf character who has appeared in many cartoons alongside Bendy. Eviscerated corpses of him appear throughout the studio, having been killed by Alice Angel. The only living Boris is encountered by Henry in the second chapter. Though mute, this Boris is friendly to Henry and assists him in various ways.
 * Lauren Synger as:
 * Alice Angel; A cartoon angel whose popularity never reached that of Bendy's, first referred to in the second chapter. Henry encounters a living version of Alice in the third, with half of her face disfigured. Murderous and insane, "Alice" initially spares Henry, and condescendingly demands from him to run errands for her.
 * Allison Pendle; The new voice actress for Alice Angel, which depresses Susie Campbell.
 * Alec Baldwin, Kevin Hart, and Tom Kenny as the Butcher Gang; A trio of cartoon villains named Charley, Barley and Edgar, first appearing on a poster in the third chapter. Horrifically disfigured living versions of them now roam the studio, attacking Henry upon seeing him.
 * David Eddings as Joey Drew; The former owner of Joey Drew Studios, and an old friend and colleague of Henry's. Many old audio recordings of former employees detail Joey's mismanagement and bizarre behaviour, and he is implied to be responsible for the studio's current state.
 * Paul Crawford as:
 * Henry; The player character, Henry is an animator and a former employee of Joey Drew Studios. Now trapped there against his will, Henry only wants to escape the dangers of the abandoned studio, which is a lot bigger than he remembers.
 * Wally Franks; The studio's former janitor, whose voice appears in several old audio recordings.
 * Norman Polk; The studio's former projectionist, whose voice first appears in a recording in the second chapter. In the third chapter, he is seen roaming the studio as a deformed ink monster with a film projector for ahead.
 * Mike Mood as Thomas Connor; A repairman who has worked part-time for the studio. His voice appears in several recordings, complaining about the dangerous state the building is in.
 * Aaron Landon as Sammy Lawrence; The former music director at the studio, Sammy was once in charge of writing and recording cartoon music. He now resides at the music department trapped in an ink body, wearing a cutout of Bendy's face over his head. Having gone insane, Sammy has proclaimed himself a prophet of Bendy, whom he now worships as his savior.
 * Alanna Linayre as Susie Campbell; A voice actress working at the studio, who is offered to voice the new character Alice Angel, a role she is very enthusiastic about.
 * Seán McLoughlin as Shawn Flynn; An employee who works as a toy manufacturer at the studio's Heavenly Toys department. He is heard in a recording in the third chapter, speaking in a thick Irish accent.
 * Will Ryan and DAgames as Grant Cohen; A studio employee maintaining the company's financial administration. He is heard in a recording in the third chapter, voicing concerns about Joey Drew's frivolous spending.
 * Kristen Schaal as Linda; A woman only mentioned in Henry's audio recording in Chapter 3.

Production
DreamWorks' interest in the film rights to Bendy and the Ink Machine dates back to when the first installment was published in 2017, but the Meatly did not want to sell them. Early pitches for an adaptation included video games, animated and live-action films, an animated series, and a live-action series. To persuade him, DreamWorks gave Meatly a tour around the studio with everyone in Bendy costumes, which made him surprised. In October 2023, his representatives indicated Meatly was ready, and DreamWorks Animation won the rights in an auction. In December 2023, David Soren was announced as director and Nicholas Stoller as the scriptwriter. The two had previously worked together on the film Gulliver's Travels. In January 2024, the cast was announced. Will Ryan (DAGames) joined as Bendy the Ink Demon, and also Boris the Friendly Wolf, Lauren Synger as Alice Angel, David Eddings as the Bendy creator Joey Drew, Paul Crawford a.k.a. theMeatly as Joey's assistant Henry, the voiced-over Wally Franks, and Norman Polk,and Aaron Landon as The fugitive music Conductor Sammy Lawrence.

In 2023, DreamWorks Animation announced a January 2026 release date. The studio announced that the film would be produced outside of the studio's pipeline at a significantly lower cost. It was instead animated at Mikros Image in Montreal, Canada, and therefore looks identical to Crawford's artwork, as well as differently than most of DWA's films. A month later, Letterman left the project but came back as an executive producer, and David Soren, the director of Turbo, entered talks to direct the film. During production, Crawford got to work closely with Soren. He was relieved that Soren was directing since he was a fan of Turbo. In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Commenting back, Soren said, "In a way, the controversy over the game ended up being liberating for the film. Normally on an animated movie, you're trying to appeal to every possible demographic, and often that results in your content being watered down a little bit. Obviously we hope we get as wide of an audience as possible. But it's likely that if people have issues with the game they may have issues with the movie too, and we didn't feel like we needed to waste a lot of time trying to rope them in. It allowed us to make the purest version of the movie."

Marketing
A week after the film's release, Just Play released eight action figures of Bendy, Boris, and the Butcher Gang, They each came with a Character Card, accessories, a cartoon poster, and a game code for Bendy and the Ink Machine, they even come with over 50 points of articulation, they cost only $5 each.

Bendy comes with a hat, dancing cane, a Dancing Demon cartoon poster, his character card, and a game code; Boris comes with the laser pointer he used in the movie, a sheep song poster, his character card, and a game code; Alice comes with old VHS tapes, a sent from above poster, removable slippers, her character card, and a game code; the Butcher Gang comes with meat, a little grill, removable bibs, their character card, and a game code.

They had also released replicas of the Bendy, Boris, Alice plushies from the Heavenly Toys room.

Home media
Bendy was released on digital on March 24, 2026 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. This was followed by its release on Ultra HD Blu-ray, DVD, and Blu-ray on April 21.

Reception
Bendy was met with mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 67% rating based on 94 reviews on the rating of 6.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Even if its plot is dark while juvenile, Bendy might live up to the video game's name."