If you’ve ever wondered what a horror classic would look like as a ‘Lifetime’ movie, wonder no more! The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024), directed by Renny Harlin, attempts to reboot Bryan Bertino’s original 2008 nightmare, but ends up delivering a bland, repetitive version that lacks the harrowing bite of its predecessor.
“…lacks the harrowing bite of its predecessor.”
The plot follows Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and her boyfriend Ryan (Froy Gutierrez), who are on a road trip to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest, or something. Their journey comes to an abrupt halt when their car breaks down in the small town of Venus, Oregon. They’re forced to spend the night in an isolated Airbnb, a hunting cabin at the edge of town, where three masked psychopaths decide to pay them an unwelcome visit.
The film’s biggest fault is that it meanders through a story audiences have already seen. You’re inviting us into a three-part universe, but Chapter 1 feels like a feature-length preface that could have been summarized in the first twenty minutes of whatever they intend to tell in parts two and three. Couple go to cabin. Couple get murdered.
Seriously though, here’s the whole plot: The couple’s car breaks down in Venus after they pull off for some food. Despite a few nosy townsfolk (who’ll likely play bigger parts in future installments but do nothing but gooseneck in this film), we hop, skip, and jump to our next setpiece. The mechanic needs to get a part in the morning, so Maya and Ryan have to stay at the only Airbnb in town. Cue our home invasion.
When the Strangers finally reveal themselves, it’s not with the sadistic glee of the original. Instead of engaging in a terrifying game of cat and mouse, they seem more interested in casual vandalism. They pretty much leave the two dunderheads to clunk about the cabin on their own, resulting in all of their initial injuries being self-inflicted… and Stranger-less.
This couple doesn’t have the best survival instincts, and they suck at using their indoor voices. They’re destined for doom, even though the three killers seem more content sitting by the fire and playing the living room piano than actually hunting them down.
The performances by Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez lack the emotional depth that made the original film’s couple (played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) so compelling. The tension between Maya and Ryan feels superficial at best, missing the palpable strain that made The Strangers (2008) so intense. In the original, the couple’s dynamic added a layer of tragedy— the ‘death’ of their relationship had already begun before literal death came knocking. Here, we get a couple whose biggest struggle is keeping the beer cold.
By the time the credits roll, you’re left with an unsatisfying cliffhanger—a “to be continued” that feels more like a threat than a promise. There’s very little reward for the audience’s patience, making it hard to muster any enthusiasm for the upcoming sequels.
“[The Strangers: Chapter 1] dilutes everything that made the original film a standout—its nihilism, the heartbreaking struggle of its characters, the cold proficiency of its killers—into a forgettable, flavorless reboot.”
In conclusion, The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024) feels like a watered-down echo of something great. It dilutes everything that made the original film a standout—its nihilism, the heartbreaking struggle of its characters, the cold proficiency of its killers—into a forgettable, flavorless reboot. If this is what the first chapter offers, one shudders to think about what awaits in Chapters Two and Three. Hopefully some plot. Hopefully.
Our verdict? Avoid, unless you’re a completionist. The original The Strangers (2008) remains the definitive version for those who crave genuine home invasion horror. I would guess you could go into Chapter 2 completely blind.
