FILM: The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024, Renny Harlin)

Pete Kirkpatrick ,

Distributed by Lionsgate, The Strangers: Chapter 1 is the third film in the horror franchise and first chronologically. Whilst on a cross-country road trip, Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) stop off at an Airbnb in the woods near the small town of Venus, Oregon. However, that night three masked strangers (Matúš Lajčák, Olivia Kreutzova and Letizia Fabbri) wielding axes and knives approach the property and break in, with the intention of killing Maya and Ryan, who now face the ultimate challenge of having to survive the night.

CONS

  • A highly predictable narrative, the majority of which lacks tension, made more frustrating and tedious by some bone-headed decisions that Maya and Ryan make along the way, and director Renny Harlin relies too much on cheap jump scares that are not even scary.
  • The film at times feels somewhat directionless, exacerbated by both the masked trio’s lack of reason for their actions and the obvious efforts to set up future films in the franchise (two more are in post-production).
  • Despite being the first film chronologically, nothing is done to establish why the bloodthirsty trio break into homes, whilst the means by which Maya and Ryan evade them become increasingly contrived.
  • A poor cast who unanimously give wooden performances, the majority of them coming across as totally uninvested in the material, whilst Maya and Ryan’s relationship is made harder to invest by Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez’s lack of chemistry.
  • The impact that the injuries which characters sustain have upon them are very inconsistent, whilst the use of fake blood is either too scarce or simply gratuitous.

PROS

  • A scene set in the Airbnb’s crawlspace that has good slow-burn direction from Renny Harlin, use of diegetic sound that makes it even more tense, and very effective use of the enclosed space and scarce light by cinematographer José David Montero to create a real sense of claustrophobia.
  • Although the scenes lack tension, José David Montero makes very good use of the moonlight when Maya and Ryan are deep in the woods, which make those scenes atmospheric.

VERDICT: 2/10

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