Director Renny Harlin is continuing his reboot of the 2000s horror hit *The Strangers* with the upcoming release of *The Strangers: Chapter 2*. Following last year’s *Chapter 1*, the sequel is scheduled to premiere on September 26, 2025, and will once again star Madelaine Petsch as Maya Lucas. After the first film received negative reviews, the question remains: will the second installment be more successful?
Following feedback on the initial film, director Renny Harlin and his team reportedly filmed additional scenes for the second and third installments. However, these changes didn’t impress critics. Meagan Navarro from Bloody Disgusting notes that instead of building anticipation for the upcoming final film, *Chapter 2* feels like a simple chase movie with silly and unbelievable moments, including a poorly-done CGI boar attack. She gave it a rating of 1 out of 5 skulls, stating:
The second film in the series feels like an unnecessary detour, seemingly forgotten even by those who made it. While Madison Petsch tries her best, she can’t save the movie from being a disappointment. Director Renny Harlin appears to have lost interest, and the film lacks the energy of the first one. A brief scene after the credits attempts to build anticipation for the finale, but this installment should have been setting up the last chapter itself. Instead, it completely kills any remaining excitement for the Strangers story and this confusing trilogy.
I was really intrigued by the first chapter – it felt like a classic slasher! But honestly, the second film just didn’t deliver the same thrills. Knowing Maya survives to *Chapter 3*, which is planned for 2026, completely killed the suspense for me. And after a somewhat mild start, the violence seemed to pull back even further. Tyler Nichols from JoBlo gave *The Strangers: Chapter 2* a pretty low score – a 4 out of 10, calling it ‘Not Good’. He seemed as disappointed as I was.
I was frustrated by the lack of development in the story. Everything important happens very quickly, and not much changes after that. It didn’t feel like a full movie; it just stopped abruptly, and I was surprised when it ended. I know there’s a sequel, but the first film at least had a satisfying conclusion.
Rafael Motamayor from SlashFilm gave the film a 4 out of 10, noting it was an improvement over the first one, though that wasn’t saying much. Motamayor believes the biggest flaw of *Chapter 2* is giving the killers a backstory, which removes the unsettling randomness of their original motive – simply attacking whoever happened to be home. As the critic put it:
The movie attempts to reveal who the Strangers are, hinting at a bigger plot and a pattern of senseless violence, while also showing us the people behind the masks. However, giving them personal histories actually undermines the unpredictable nature of the attacks, and providing a reason for the killings feels like a departure from what made the original films scary.
Most critics agree that Madelaine Petsch delivers a committed performance, fully embracing the strange challenges her role presents. They also consistently point out the poor quality of the CGI boar, suggesting it’s a significant weakness of the film.
In a review for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico criticizes a particular scene involving a boar, calling it absurd and illogical both in terms of how it looks and what it means for the story. He gave the movie a very low rating – just one out of four stars – and went on to say:
The people behind this film seem determined to do the bare minimum. The second installment is incredibly dull, jumping between being confusing and treating viewers like they’re unintelligent. While director James Harlin occasionally demonstrates visual skill – he can still create a striking image, like a threatening figure in a doorway – and star Madelaine Petsch gives a dedicated physical performance, it’s especially frustrating to see her efforts wasted on a film that lacks coherence and disrespects its audience.
Jamie Graham from Empire rated the film 2 out of 5 stars. He felt it avoided being truly terrible thanks to the director, Renny Harlin, who managed to create visually interesting scenes and effective scares, and a strong performance from Madelaine Petsch. Graham then concluded his review…
This movie feels unoriginal and its story is confusing, jumping between different horror tropes as Maya tries to escape. It both overexplains things and leaves too much unexplained, ultimately failing to build genuine suspense. The biggest fright, however, might be the closing message promising a sequel.
Critics haven’t been kind to *The Strangers: Chapter 2*, giving it a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 21 critics. However, if you’re still interested in seeing the new horror film – or are curious about the buzz around the movie’s unusual scene with a wild boar – don’t let the negative reviews discourage you. It opens in theaters on Friday, September 26th.
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2025-09-26 15:09