54616: The Strangers: Chapter 1
Horror films allow us to punish the sins of society without actually stoning anyone to death. It’s nice. Now, mainly these movies focus on those sins originating from or concerning the genitalia of young persons and what they choose to do with them, but there are horror movies that branch out into the full panoply of cultural no-nos. Thinner took on gluttony, for instance, and Se7en delved into each of the big ones. It’s rare that we turn to horror films to cast a spotlight on hubris, and I think that’s a shame. Because, if we as a society spent more time calling out hubristic nonsense through horror, we might discourage people from doing things like adding the subtitle “Chapter 1” to lackluster movies.
First of all, my meager AP style training is screaming at me that it should be The Strangers: Chapter One, but that’s really the least of the worries here. Very rarely in film do you hear about a movie being produced at the same time as its sequel, or even getting the go-ahead to make multiple films in a series before one ticket has been sold for the first. For example, Dune: Part 2 wasn’t even a sure thing when Dune: Part 1 premiered. Think about that. The producers had the rights to one of the most beloved IPs in science fiction, an all-star cast, celebrated director, top-tier effects team, a built in audience for their movie, which ended on a cliffhanger, and still they weren’t guaranteed a second film. Even after the film was cut and, presumably, studio suits had a chance to look at it and see that it was basically the first cog in a giant money-printing machine, they still said, “Let’s see how this plays out.”
So, then, how in the world did someone look at the script for The Strangers: Chapter 1 and greenlight two more chapters? I have to assume it’s the cost differential. Making three low- or mid-budget horror films in Bratislava at the same time isn’t as cost-prohibitive as paying Timothée Chalamet to sit in the Namibian sand for two movies instead of one, I suppose. But a feature film is a huge undertaking, and three at once seems like sheer madness (hubris). I don’t understand why they would have gone forward with the script that I saw play out on the screen.
Okay, before I kick any more dirt onto The Strangers: Chapter 1, let me back up and say some nice things about it. It is a competently shot movie, and the two main actors did a great job with what they were given. Madelaine Petsch, as Maya, and Froy Gutierrez, as Ryan, have a beautiful screen dynamic. They’re great. The setting is gorgeous. Bratislava is lush, and foggy, and green, and alive, and foreboding all at once, just like Oregon, probably. And the film does manage to score some creepy vibes. When the young couple stop into the diner in a small, isolated forest town, you can practically hear a record scratch as the locals turn and eyeball the outsiders. The whole place has real thick “grown up Children of the Corn” vibes, and it seemed immediately like the whole town would just jump up and start stabbing these two sneering city fucks before they even have a chance to order their lunches.
That’s pretty much it. I’m going to share some plot points here, because I don’t think it’s possible to spoil this movie.
The rest of the movie is a repeated pattern of a) something creepy happens and b) Maya or Ryan make a ridiculous choice. Like, “Wow, that sure was weird how that girl kept banging on the door of my Airbnb out in the woods asking for Tamara and then disappearing. Really wish my boyfriend were here so I wouldn’t be all alone. Oh well, time to take a shower!” And, of course, “Let’s split up.” Just brilliant.
Aside from the less-than-stellar plot details, this movie suffers from a fundamental weakness, in that it is not built to stand on its own. It is Chapter 1, after all, and as such it is an unsatisfying narrative experience. “To be continued” is not a great ending. It worked for Avengers: Infinity War and Back to the Future 2 purely because those movies had spent years building their respective narratives and goodwill from the audience, but those are serious outliers. It is some spectacular hubris to think that The Strangers: Chapter 1 has managed to win over its audiences in such a way that they’re cool with a third-act bait-and-switch denouement where the story just stops because the cops are showing up and the boogeymen have to get out before they get arrested because then we might have consider exploring who they are as actual characters and not just blank-faced stabby dolls.
Imagine Scream, but the movie stops well before Ghostface is revealed and has a final showdown with Sydney Prescott. That’s nihilism, friends. Without an examination of the killer and his/her/their motivation, Scream would just be elaborate torture porn. And that’s kinda what you get with The Strangers: Chapter 1. Maybe that makes it more terrifying? I don’t know. I think someone stabbing you for a reason is just as scary as someone stabbing you simply because you’re there. The main difference, as I see it, is that one of those stabbings is more ridiculous and unbelievable than the other.
I’m paraphrasing Will Rogers when I say that “a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet.” And The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a friend you’re better off never meeting. I suggest you instead go introduce yourself to Barbarian and The Green Room, if you haven’t already.
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