The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026)

DIRECTED BY

Renny Harlin

STARRING

Madelaine Petsch - Maya

Gabriel Basso - Gregory

Ema Horvath - Shelly Barnes

Ella Bruccoleri - Jasmine

Richard Brake - Sheriff Rotter

Genre - Horror/Survival/Thriller/Slasher

Running Time - 91 Minutes

PLOT

Tethered by a frightening conclusion, Maya and the Strangers are locked on an unavoidable, unforgiving collision course — a showdown that proves they’re far from strangers now.

REVIEW

So we’re finally here. We’re finally at the end of this terrible STRANGERS trilogy that you, the reader, know I have not been a fan of. I enjoy the original 2008 film, while thinking 2018’s THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT was a fun time. But since 2024, this franchise has been on a downward spiral even for many of its hardcore fans. CHAPTER 1 was an irritating and frustrating watch for a multitude of reasons. CHAPTER 2 was a meandering dull time, besides the appearance of a CGI boar that actually made it more memorable than the first. My expectations for CHAPTER 3 were at rock bottom; my excitement at null. But I wasted three hours of my life watching the previous two, so obviously I was going to waste another 90 minutes to see how it ended. 

I’m not sure what stars aligned or what voodoo my theater was having its effect on me, but I didn’t find CHAPTER 3 to be as frustrating or as meandering as the previous two films! Is it a good film? Not even close. But at least it feels like a movie everyone seemed intent on wanting to be good and interesting for the audience for a change. There are character backstories. Characters actually react to things, which is nice for once in this franchise. And there is constant movement, either on screen or narratively between characters. The script isn’t all that well written like the previous installments in this trilogy, but at least it’s trying to tie up loose ends and explain things that needed explaining in the second film.

CHAPTER 3 continues right from where the last film ended, with our Final Girl Maya dealing with the trauma she has experienced for the last two films. One of the Strangers, unmasked, tells Maya that she has been the only survivor of the attacks since they started and that she’s allowed to leave the town as a reward. However, someone who knows of the Strangers’ true origins has different plans in mind, keeping Maya in town against her will until the surviving Strangers reclaim her. While the villains try and court Maya into becoming a Stranger like them due to her tenacity and willingness to survive, Maya’s sister, brother-in-law and a detective arrive in town looking for her. This causes issues with certain higher-ups in town, wanting to squash this investigation to keep the town’s violent history hidden.

Just by writing this summary shows me that the writers clearly had the ending mapped out more than the beginning and [especially] the second act. Sure, they could have made all the characters smarter, or given more agency. Sure, the kills could have been more fun and memorable. The backstories, while nice to see, don’t really add a whole lot by the film’s end. So…is this why we needed three films? Also, is that a love story in our STRANGERS movie between protagonist and antagonist? And did the sheriff scare off all the other CGI animals out of this small town? Hey, at least I’m not writing a pissed off rant of a review, instead giving tolerable criticism for this trilogy for once. I consider that a win!

Visually, this is Renny Harlin’s best work in this franchise. While never coming close to his 80s and 90s work, there is still a level of energy in CHAPTER 3 that wasn’t present in the previous two movies. The flow is a lot better and the tone is more consistent. Some shots are framed interestingly and show that a once-successful genre director is behind the lens. One of the best scenes, in my opinion, involve a hotel torture scene where the Strangers are trying to initiate Maya into their world. This sequence is pretty captivating because you’re wondering if Maya is going to buy in or not, considering how desensitized she’s become since her experience. There’s also another scene involving a mobile trailer where Maya’s family is hiding from the Strangers, creating a lot of tension and suspense like any good slasher film ought to do. Unfortunately, the gore is non-existent here despite some of the violence. And some questionable choices with needledrops, despite me liking the song choices used. It created a jarring experience, but maybe that was the idea. That being said, nothing visually memorable but a much needed improvement over the blandness of the previous films regardless.

The acting, while nothing award worthy, is at least better than what we got in the previous films. I feel bad for Madelaine Petsch, who is definitely a capable actress with the right material. She’s been given nothing to do in this trilogy and plays a character who makes the dumbest decisions known to man, despite one thinking she would learn from previous mistakes to become a better survivor. But Petsch does get to play various emotional beats here as she plays Maya as a victim of PTSD and becoming numb to the cruel world that surrounds her. Of the three films, she’s the most believable here and I’m glad Petsch finally got to show some acting chops during her final arc. Gabriel Basso, who didn’t have much to do but be creepy in CHAPTER 2, gets to do some more in CHAPTER 3. His character still isn’t all that interesting, but I’m glad he played with some emotional beats of his own. The only other actor of note is Richard Brake, portraying a sheriff with devious intentions to keep the identities of The Strangers and their adventures hidden from the outside world. He’s not in the film a whole lot. But when he does appear, he’s pretty good despite playing a role we’ve seen him play countless times before.

THE FINAL HOWL

Maybe I’ve been numbed or desensitized by the crap that came before it, but I felt THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 3 is the least-worst film of this maligned trilogy. At least there seemed to be an end goal here, with things having a certain level of consistency and slight intrigue that the previous two films really lacked. I’m not saying the story is any good. The characters, both heroes and villains, do really dumb things. Most of the death sequences are off-screen or blink-or-you’ll-miss it. Some of the needledrops are jarring and ruin the serious tone of the film. And while it’s nice to have villain origins, this trilogy still makes you ask “why” by the movie’s end.

But at least Renny Harlin crafts some decent moments of tension and suspense in the second half of the film that remind you that he used to be good at making genre movies like this decades ago. And the actors are given more to do this time around, allowing them to have emotional beats that feel somewhat believable. Madelaine Petsch, in particular, is given some nice emotional moments that allow her to showcase what a capable actor she is when given something to chew on. 

Other than that, I’m just glad this new STRANGERS trilogy is over and we can all move on with our lives. Let this franchise hibernate for a while until someone with a real plan wakes it up from its slumber to give the fans something they really want to see for a change. But at least, in my opinion, it ended better than it started. I guess that counts for something these days.

SCORE

1.5 Howls Outta 4

(4 out of 10)