The Strangers Chapter 3
review by Bobby Blakey
In 2008 director Bryan Bertino unleashed the unexpected hit horror flick The Strangers to the big screen. The film scared audiences with its realistic tones and creepy visuals, they had been talking about a sequel for some time which we finally got with the 2018 film, The Strangers: Prey At Night. In 2024 director Renny Harlin returned to his horror roots kicking off a new trilogy with The Strangers Chapter One and Chapter Two hitting in 2025. Now the final chapter of this new trilogy is here, but does it bring a good ending with the promised answers, or will it fail to make the final kill?
The Strangers: Chapter 3 follows Maya who faces the masked killers one last time in a brutal, full circle reckoning of survival and revenge. This series is not just a trilogy, but one long film with each chapter picking up where the last left off and this new one is no different. With a random murder opening to see the Strangers in action and setting up something for later in that specific film it dives right back to the final moments of the previous film.
I know they haven’t all resonated with audiences, but for me I have been a fan of all the films in the franchise. This new trilogy is its own animal that is in no way connected to the previous two films outside of the idea and first film essentially reimagining the original 2008 film to kick off a new tale. What I love about this trilogy of films is that each film while an ongoing story each has a different tone. The first film with the vibe of the original, the second being more of a fight for survival int eh vein of Halloween 2 and this chapter more of the outcome, origin and finale.
The entire film is all about Maya played to perfection in every film by Madelaine Petsch. She goes all in and must shift through a wide range of physical and emotional aspects that had to be exhausting as an actor. She nails every scene and
brings all these elements to the forefront with her shifting from terrified victim to PTSD level survivor. Even though the film only takes place within a specific short time frame, through the three films she manages to evolve into a completely different character when it’s all said and done. It delves into the side of these slasher film survivors that we don’t get to see very often.
There was promised when the first film was announced that it was going to tell the origin of the Strangers and through the first two films it was barely there outside of the final moments of the Part Two that at least finally explained the “Is Tamara There?” line use throughout the series before they wreak havoc. This time around it is not only about Maya’s fight to survive but giving those promised answers and they are all here. Some work and others are kind of meh, but still manage to bring it all together to a satisfying end for me.
Part of what has always made the strangers themselves so terrifying is the seemingly no reason for their violent attacks and who they are. Some may not like the idea or even the reveal of all the strangers, but I was fine with it. They give them plenty of time to do their thing before getting to this part of the story so felt like we still got enough of their insanity to keep me happy. I did feel the big one was a bit anticlimactic and felt rushed, but it’s also in the context of being one long which I think will work better in the promised full 4.5 hour cut that will get some sort of release eventually complete with two other strangers that were cut from the film.
In the end I felt this was a decent enough final outing that not only wrapped up this violent insane fight for Maya that still manages to leave the ending with some questions about what could come next without it being necessary. While not perfect I dug this trilogy and applaud Harlin’s commitment to bringing this full story to life and looking forward to revisiting it with the extended addition for a whole new experience.
Witness the end of the trilogy with The Strangers Chapter 3 in theaters now from Lionsgate.
