Objective To develop an anthocyanin-based intelligent film that can rapidly respond to freshness of fish meat and has a certain degree of antibacterial properties.Methods Zein (ZH) and chitosan (CS) are used as the film-forming matrix, anthocyanin as the indicator, glycerol as the enhancer, and nisin as the antibacterial additive to prepare the anthocyanin-based intelligent film. With tensile strength (TS) and carbon dioxide transmittance as indicators, three factors-CS/ZH blending ratio, glycerol addition amount, and volume of coating, are selected for single-factor experiments. On the basis of the single-factor experiments, a response surface experiment is designed to determine the optimal preparation conditions for the anthocyanin-based intelligent film. By changing the nisin addition amount, the antibacterial properties of the anthocyanin-based intelligent film are investigated. The color response and the fish meat spoilage tests are designed to explore the practical application performance of the anthocyanin-based intelligent film.Results Under the CS/ZH blending ratio of 4:1, the glycerol addition amount of 1.02 g, the nisin addition amount of 0.125 g, the anthocyanin solution addition amount of 1.0 mL, and the volume of coating of 25.3 mL, the film achieves the tensile strength of 13.9 MPa, the carbon dioxide transmittance of 0.836 g/(m²·h), and the best antibacterial property. The anthocyanin-based intelligent film changes color regularly with pH, from red to yellowish green. When the prepared anthocyanin-based intelligent film is placed in the glassware containing fresh fish meat, the film quickly undergoes a color change reaction according to the spoilage and deterioration of the fish meat.Conclusion The prepared anthocyanin-based intelligent film is not only a reliable quality detection label but also can be used as intelligent food preservation packaging to maintain food quality and safety, demonstrating broad application prospects.