The Strangers: Chapter 1 is an American horror movie from 2024 that is the first in a planned trilogy relaunch and the third movie in the Strangers film series Renny Harlin is the director, while Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland wrote the script based on a plot by the original film’s director, Bryan Bertino. Starring as a couple on a road trip, Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez encounter the three psychotic individuals wearing masks. Also starring are Gabriel Basso and Ema Horvath.

In order to celebrate their fifth anniversary, Maya and her boyfriend Ryan travel across the nation in the movie’s plot. They arrive at Venus, a little village, lost. Their automobile breaks down and they are disturbed by the locals. They are compelled to spend the night in an Airbnb when Rudy, the town mechanic, offers to fix their car the next morning.

After loud, persistent banging, a female shows up at the door and asks whether Tamara is here. The couple says no. Ryan rides a motorbike back into town to get his inhaler, which he forgot in the vehicle. When she’s by herself, Maya is oblivious to Scarecrow’s quiet pursuit. She hides when the electricity goes out and Dollface suddenly appears. Returning, Ryan concludes it’s a hoax. Later, as the couple looks up, they see blood trickling from a dead chicken that is hanging on the chandelier. Scarecrow attacks them, stops chasing after them, and exits the home.

Scarecrow blows up the motorcycle as the couple runs outdoors to escape. They almost escape discovery by using the tunnel beneath the house when Maya unintentionally runs her palm over a nail. When they reach the shed, Ryan discovers a shotgun and protects Maya from yet another assault.

Ryan accidentally kills the owner of the Airbnb by shooting him. They try to flee in his car, but Scarecrow’s truck gives them a tailspin. Ryan can’t move since his leg is jammed, but Maya dashes into the woods. Maya tries to phone 911, but the call is dropped because of poor reception. After finding a body, she is found out by Dollface and is rendered unconscious. Pin-Up Girl is being held at gunpoint by Ryan, who is demanding to know where Maya is. Then the Scarecrow also knocks him unconscious.

They both awaken in the house, bound to chairs. Ryan proposes to Maya in their final moments, and she accepts. Ryan is mortally stabbed as they are crying together, and his chair topples, choking him on his own blood. When Maya inquires as to why they are doing this, their simple response is, “Because you’re here.” Then she gets stabbed and also gets knocked down. The culprits accelerate away as police sirens can be heard in the background. Having made it through the night, Maya wakes up in a hospital bed. When she gets out of bed, Scarecrow is not there to greet her.

The general assessment of this film is It’s more of a thriller with less blood. Harlin treats the material with respect to the genre, honoring it but yet undermining it where necessary. Nihilistic horror, in my opinion, is less captivatingly frightening and more unpleasant and gloomy.