The Wasteland Reviewer

The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026) Written Review

Are we prepared for this new The Strangers trilogy to be over? What started as a surprise hit in 2008, The Strangers has become an unexpected franchise that leans into the idea of an invasion by masked strangers who are enigmatic and strange (and violent). But a new trilogy of films launched that would slowly peel back the mystique to reveal what is truly behind these mysterious killers. Many have questioned the purpose of turning the titular “Strangers” into characters with backstories and motivations and the quality of the first two films have not helped the case. But The Strangers: Chapter 3 is now in theaters, and it doesn’t do much at all to bring confidence back into this franchise. 

How does this trilogy of films wrap up? The first film, Chapter 1, basically remade the original film with a new couple being tormented by the titular killers. But something shocking occurs…someone survives. Chapter 2 spun its wheels and added nothing of substance to the experience acting like a killer boar sequence and some creepy kid flashbacks would add much. The only substantial element in Chapter 2 was the death of one of the killers. For Chapter 3, this opens the door for our “final girl” Madeleine Petsch’s Maya to join up with the killers and slowly become cold and disconnected like them. This does not land well, and the overly serious philosophy of the killers feels so clunky and uninteresting. More significantly, Maya as a character is undermined and fractured into someone disturbing. The impact of such trauma is dramatically rich but the approach they take falls flat…hard. The flashbacks add nothing of substance and are more like an attempt to channel some of the horror of the original film. The clunky screenplay, nothing characters (especially the trio who roll into town looking for Maya), and unsatisfying narrative choices leave the film feeling hollow and inert. That stings even more when you realize that you are sad through three other hours of story before this one. 

Does Renny Harlin’s direction do much at all to curb this horrible script? Not much. Some of the flashback sequences and one specific set piece are creepy…in a vacuum. But when you experience them after rolling your eyes for the 10^th time or you have been turned off by the slow, plodding execution, it leaves little left to invest into some solid scares. Some of the films look solid but are quickly undermined by some horrible CGI influenced moments with weird, uneven slow motion. It is one thing to undersell on the writing for a horror film, but when you leave the horror at the door too, you are left with little to attach to. For a film that is barely 90-minutes, this feels like quite the drag as well. You should not be able to make a film about brutal murder so uninteresting…. but The Strangers: Chapter 3 takes the cake. 

Can the cast salvage much? Not really. Petsch is not left with much to do except stare blankly at the camera because she is “slowly turning into one of them”. The performances by the killers (both young and present) are so flat in their reactions and presentation that it makes it even harder to buy into their clunky and poorly written philosophy. A veteran actor like Richard Brake is wasted quite a bit as a one-note, bad sheriff. Most of the other performers feel flat and lifeless and it is hard to blame them when they have such horrible dialogue to play around with. 

Why did this trilogy exist? Not quite sure…and that is after watching 4.5 hours of these movies. The first was an uninspired retread of the first film. The second two pieces feel like half thought philosophy and bad storytelling that will leave you watching so much more from a legacy sequence trilogy based on a semi-popular horror film.