“The Strangers: Chapter 2” was quite possibly the biggest waste of time, compared to every other movie I’ve watched in 2025 and with a box-office opening of only $5.9 million, it seems like audiences agree. If viewers are still interested in this movie, you might as well watch a different horror movie.
“Chapter 2” starts off where the first film in the reboot ended. There isn’t much time for the plot to simmer. Audiences are just plunged into the action early on. This sequel ruined the whole defining trait of the franchise. The killings from iconic Dollface, Pinup Girl and Scarecrow are supposed to be random—their victims’ fates are sealed when they answer the door. These interactions of the characters suck and do not encompass what the movie is supposed to be going for.
The cinematography was mediocre. If anything, “Chapter 1” was better than what viewers were met with in the sequel. Boring shoots, and instead of the suspense of watching the killers lurk in the background, they just show up with no buildup. Jose David Montero did a solid job with the start of the new trilogy, but it’s hard to say why “The Strangers: Chapter 2” fell off so much in this aspect.
The only standout performance in the movie was from Madelaine Petsch, who reprised her role as Maya. It’s impressive to see the changes that Maya goes through during the two films, from the subtle face movements to her near genuine terror. Petsch manages to make this new trilogy salvageable. It is hard to imagine what was going through director Renny Harlin’s head when bringing the other characters to life, but it’s easy to believe that he told everyone to act weird as hell.
It is difficult to see this film as truly scary when every character aside from the lead seems like they have never interacted with a real human being. When so many other films in the genre give solid acting, realistic settings and terrifying moments, audiences are better off spending their time watching something else.
The ending of “The Strangers: Chapter 1” limited what they could do with this film. With the original 2008, things were left open-ended as viewers were left unsure of the fate of Kristen McKay, played by Liv Tyler. It wasn’t until “The Strangers: Prey at Night” that her fate was revealed. If Harlin took a page out of his predecessor’s book, he might have been able to improve the overall direction this film took, but disappointingly, the last scene of “Chapter 1” confirmed the fate of Maya.
Overall, there is a lot that this film did wrong and not much it did right. Maybe “The Strangers: Chapter 3,” which is scheduled to release in early 2026, can salvage this new trilogy. The second movie felt like a shaky bridge between the first and final films. Viewers who planned to watch “Chapter 2” as a fun Halloween season treat, consider spending your time doing anything else.
