Summary

  • The Strangers: Chapter 1 has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 21%.
  • This is the lowest score of the entire three-movie franchise so far.
  • This low score could potentially impact the reception of the entire planned prequel trilogy.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 has broken a Rotten Tomatoes record for the home invasion horror franchise. The new movie, which stars Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez as a couple whose Airbnb is invaded by masked killers, is a standalone follow-up to the 2008 original and its 2018 sequel, Prey at Night. It is intended to be the first of a prequel trilogy. The Strangers: Chapter 1 release is set to be followed by Chapter 2 later in 2024 and Chapter 3 at a date that has not yet been set.

Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated the first official score for The Strangers: Chapter 1. With 33 critics weighing in, the movie has earned a thoroughly Rotten score of 21%, far below the 60% threshold to be considered Fresh. Although this score could fluctuate as more reviews are added throughout the movie's theatrical run, at the time of writing it is the worst yet for the entire three-movie Strangers franchise.

Will This Low Rotten Tomatoes Score Hurt The New Strangers Trilogy?

Every Strangers Movie Has Earned A Rotten Score

With The Strangers: Chapter 1 cast centering on Petsch, who is fresh off the seven-season run of her hit CW show Riverdale, this could help boost its commercial prospects.

This low Rotten Tomatoes score is an ignominious debut for the planned trilogy. All three movies have already been shot, meaning that they will likely all premiere one way or another, even if the scores begin to dip even lower. In fact, the studio's commitment to putting out the full trilogy is belied by the fact that there is a The Strangers: Chapter 1 post-credits scene. However, there is a distinct possibility that at least the third movie could transition to a streaming release if prospects grow increasingly grim.

This low Rotten Tomatoes score may not look so bad within the broader context of the entire franchise. Although the new installment has earned the lowest score of the franchise thus far, none of the three Strangers movies have received a Fresh score from critics on the platform, despite the fact that the original can be considered a modern cult classic. Below, see how the Rotten Tomatoes results, from both critics and audiences, compare to the box office results for the trio of titles:

Title

Critic Score

Audience Score

Worldwide Box Office

The Strangers (2008)

49%

48%

$82.4 million

The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

40%

35%

$31 million

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)

21%

TBD

TBD

While Prey at Night's lower Rotten Tomatoes score does correlate to a lower box office gross, it's not lower than the original by a significant enough margin to imply that the numbers are related. With The Strangers: Chapter 1 cast centering on Petsch, who is fresh off the seven-season run of her hit CW show Riverdale, this could help boost its commercial prospects. However, if its audience score and total gross turn out as low as the critic score, the upcoming two movies could be facing huge hurdles.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is available to see in theaters.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes