In this reimagining of the cult classic horror franchise, a young couple, Maya and Ryan, are forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb in the small town of Venus, Oregon, after their car breaks down during a cross-country road trip. Their peaceful evening turns into a nightmare when three masked strangers arrive with no motive other than to terrorize and hunt them down, kicking off a terrifying new trilogy of survival and fear.
Information |
|
|---|---|
Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
May 17, 2024 |
Running time |
91 minutes |
Genre |
Horror Mystery Thriller |
Budget |
$8,500,000 |
Box Office |
$47,800,000 |
Crew |
|
Directed by |
Renny Harlin |
Produced by |
Courtney Solomon Mark Canton Christopher Woodrow |
Written by |
Alan R. Cohen Alan Freedland |
Music by |
Justin Caine Burnett |
Cinematography |
José David Montero |
Edited by |
Michelle Harrison |
Production Co. |
Lionsgate Fifth Season Frame Film |
Distributed by |
Lionsgate |
Official Trailer
The Plot
The Ambush in the Woods
Deep within the dense forests near Venus, Oregon, a real estate agent named Jeff Morell flees for his life. Panic is etched across his face as he stumbles through the underbrush, pursued by three masked figures known as The Strangers: Scarecrow, Pin-Up Girl, and Dollface. The chase is frantic and desperate, ending abruptly when Jeff trips and tumbles down a slope. Before he can recover, the three figures surround him. Scarecrow, looming over the helpless man, raises a heavy axe and swings it down, brutally killing Jeff in the isolation of the wilderness.
A Detour in Venus
Some time later, Maya Lucas and her boyfriend of five years, Ryan, travel across the country to Portland. The trip serves a dual purpose: celebrating their anniversary and getting Maya to an interview with a leading architecture firm. While driving, they narrowly avoid a collision, prompting them to take a break. With five hours still left in their journey, they pull off the highway into the small, quiet town of Venus, Oregon. Upon entering a local diner, they are immediately scrutinized by the townspeople, including the owner Carol, waitresses Shelly and Annie, and local law enforcement officers Sheriff Rotter and Deputy Walters.
While eating, Maya and Ryan strike up a conversation with a local couple, Eden and Neil, who are celebrating their second wedding anniversary. The mood shifts awkwardly when the locals learn that Ryan and Maya are still unmarried after five years. Ryan dodges the question, causing a slight tension between the couple. On the wall of the diner, a missing persons poster for Jeff Morell goes unnoticed by the pair. When they attempt to leave, their car refuses to start. A local mechanic, Rudy, inspects the vehicle and claims he cannot fix it until the next day. stranded, the waitress Shelly offers to drive them to an AirBnB cabin located deep in the woods, owned by a man named Joe.
"Is Tamara Home?"
Maya and Ryan settle into the secluded cabin as night falls. They attempt to salvage the evening with intimacy, but the mood is shattered by a loud, heavy knock at the front door. Ryan opens it to find a woman standing in the shadows, her face obscured. She asks a chillingly simple question: "Is Tamara here?" When the couple tells her she has the wrong house, the woman stands silently for a moment before walking away into the darkness. She lingers in the distance, unnerving them, before finally disappearing.
Shortly after, Ryan realizes he left his asthma inhaler in their broken-down car. He decides to take a motorcycle found at the property back into town to retrieve it and pick up dinner. Maya stays behind alone. She tries to distract herself by video calling her sister Debbie and her fiancé Howard, but her peace is disturbed when the knocking returns. The same woman is at the door, asking once again for "Tamara." Maya turns her away, but her fear escalates when she hears the sound of a woman singing a lullaby coming from the back door.
Isolation and Intrusion
In town, Ryan arrives at Rudy’s garage. The mechanic, mistaking Ryan for a thief in the dark, nearly attacks him before realizing who it is. Ryan retrieves his inhaler and heads to a local burger joint for food. There, he encounters the locals—Neil, Eden, Annie, and Rudy’s apprentice, Dougie—who invite him for a beer. Ryan declines, eager to return to Maya. Back at the cabin, Maya attempts to calm her nerves by playing the piano, completely unaware that the masked Scarecrow is sitting silently in the room behind her. She later takes a shower, and as she dries her hair, the power abruptly cuts out.
Forced to navigate the dark house, Maya searches for the fuse box but freezes when she spots Dollface standing in the bedroom, watching her. Terrified, Maya hides in a closet until Ryan returns and restores the power. She frantically explains what she saw, but Ryan, trying to rationalize the situation, points to a painting of a clown in the bedroom, suggesting it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. To reassure her, they go outside and spot the strange woman standing down the road. Ryan approaches and threatens her, but she flees before he can catch her.
The Siege Begins
The couple sits down to eat, but the horror escalates rapidly when a drop of red liquid lands on them. Looking up, they are horrified to see a dead bird—a chicken—hung from the chandelier with its throat cut, dripping blood onto their dinner. The realization that someone has been inside sets in. Suddenly, The Strangers launch a violent assault, breaking into the house. Maya and Ryan run to the bedroom, barricading the door. Scarecrow begins hacking through the wood with his axe, eventually smashing the door open. However, instead of attacking immediately, he simply stares at them for a terrifying moment before walking away, leaving the house in an ominous silence.
Pain and Panic
Desperate to escape, Maya and Ryan attempt to flee on the motorcycle, but Scarecrow rams it, destroying the bike. They retreat back into the house, hiding in the bathroom where Maya discovers a crawlspace under the floor. As they crawl through the tight, dark space, Ryan suffers an asthma attack from the stress. In the chaos, Maya accidentally jams a large nail through her hand. She stifles a scream, forcing herself not to react to the agony to avoid detection. After The Strangers move away, Ryan helps remove the nail, and they manage to exit the crawlspace, making their way to an outdoor shed.
Their reprieve is short-lived. Pin-Up Girl is waiting inside the shed. She attacks Maya, while Scarecrow ambushes them from the darkness. Ryan manages to find a shotgun in the shed and fires it, momentarily scaring The Strangers off. Adrenaline pumping, the couple moves back toward the main house, trying to turn the tables on their hunters.
A Tragic Mistake
Armed with the shotgun, Ryan and Maya navigate the property, their nerves frayed. Ryan hears heavy footsteps approaching on the front porch. Believing it to be Scarecrow returning for the kill, Ryan fires the shotgun blindly into the shadows. The figure collapses. When they rush over, their blood runs cold—Ryan has shot and killed Joe, the owner of the AirBnB, who had come to check on them after Maya’s earlier maintenance call. Ryan is consumed by horror and guilt, but Maya urges him to focus on survival.
They take the keys to Joe’s car and attempt to flee the premises. As they speed down the driveway, Scarecrow appears in his truck and violently rams their vehicle, sending it crashing off the road. The impact leaves Ryan pinned inside the wreckage with his leg stuck. Realizing he cannot escape, Ryan gives the shotgun to Maya, but then takes it back, screaming at her to run. He tries to shoot Scarecrow, but the masked killer dodges the blast.
The Final Stand
Maya flees into the woods, scrambling through shrubs to hide. She stumbles upon the decayed corpse of Jeff Morell, confirming the deadly history of these woods. Finding Joe’s phone, she desperately dials 911. She manages to connect, but the signal cuts out before she can convey her location. Dollface appears from the darkness, singing the same eerie lullaby. She knocks Maya unconscious and drags her back toward the cabin. Meanwhile, Ryan manages to free his leg from the wreckage. He stumbles through the woods, fighting off another asthma attack, and encounters Pin-Up Girl. He holds her at gunpoint, but she only laughs and taunts him. Distracted, Ryan is blindsided by Scarecrow, who knocks him out with the butt of his axe.
"Because You're Here"
Maya and Ryan regain consciousness to find themselves tied to chairs in the living room, sitting side-by-side. The morning sun is beginning to rise, casting a light on their hopeless situation. Knowing the end is near, Ryan looks at Maya and asks her to marry him. weeping, she accepts. The tender moment is cut short as Pin-Up Girl steps forward and stabs Ryan in the chest. He bleeds out rapidly as Scarecrow kicks his chair over, leaving him to die on the floor.
Terrified and heartbroken, Maya looks up at the masked figures and pleads, "Why are you doing this?" Pin-Up Girl leans in and delivers a chilling, nihilistic answer: "Because you’re here." She then hands her knife to Scarecrow. He steps forward, stabs Maya in the stomach, and kicks her chair over next to Ryan’s body. The Strangers stand over the dying couple, admiring their work for a moment. As the sound of approaching police sirens cuts through the air, they calmly exit the house and drive away in their truck, vanishing before help arrives.
Epilogue
Some time later, Maya wakes up in a hospital bed, alive but traumatized. The room is quiet and sterile. As she shifts in her bed, the camera reveals Scarecrow lying in the hospital bed right next to her. Whether a hallucination or a horrifying reality, the screen cuts to black with a title card reading "To Be Continued."
Top Cast
- Madelaine Petsch as Maya
- Froy Gutierrez as Ryan
- Rachel Shenton as Debbie
- Gabriel Basso as Gregory
- Ema Horvath as Shelly
- Richard Brake as Sheriff Rotter
- George Young as Howard
- Matúš Lajčák as Scarecrow / Man in the Mask
- Olivia Kreutzova as Dollface
- Letizia Fabbri as Pin-Up Girl
Movie Collection
- The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)
- The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)
- The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026)
