The Strangers – Chapter 3

The Strangers – Chapter 3
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Renny Harlin
Written by	Alan R. Cohen Alan Freedland
Based on	Characters by Bryan Bertino[1]
Produced by	Courtney Solomon Mark Canton Christopher Milburn Gary Raskin Alastair Birlingham Charlie Dombek
Starring	Madelaine Petsch Gabriel Basso Ema Horvath Richard Brake Rachel Shenton Ella Bruccoleri
Cinematography	José David Montero
Edited by	Kate Hickey
Music by	Justin Burnett Òscar Senén
Production company	Fifth Element Productions
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release dates	January 15, 2026 (2026-01-15) (Los Angeles) February 6, 2026 (2026-02-06) (United States)
Running time	91 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$8 million[3][4]

The Strangers – Chapter 3 is a 2026 American horror film directed by Renny Harlin. It serves as the fifth film in The Strangers film series, and the final installment of a new trilogy following Chapter 1 (2024) and Chapter 2 (2025). The film stars Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, and Richard Brake.

The Strangers – Chapter 3 premiered in Los Angeles on January 15, 2026, and was released in the United States by Lionsgate on February 6. Similar to its predecessors, the film received generally negative reviews from critics.

In 2021, a woman named Claire stops in the town of Venus, Oregon and meets resident Shelly Barnes when checking into the Venus motel. That night, a woman knocks on her door and asks if Tamara is home. When Claire turns her away, Pin-Up Girl (Shelly), Dollface (Jasmine), and Scarecrow (Gregory Rotter) kidnap Claire and kill her in an underground lair.

In the present day, following the death of Shelly, Maya seeks refuge in a local church and is ambushed by Gregory, who also comes to the church to mourn Shelly. Maya is then detained by Sheriff Rotter, but steals his patrol car as she begins to suspect he was behind her attack. However, she wrecks the car and gets kidnapped by Gregory and Jasmine. A series of flashbacks reveal Gregory is Sheriff Rotter's son; following an incident where Gregory murdered his classmate, Tamara, Sheriff Rotter (whose reputation kept Gregory from incarceration) agreed to cover up Gregory and Shelly's murders, so long as they did not murder any Venus townsfolk.

Gregory and Jasmine take Maya to the sawmill where they dispose of Shelly's body in a wood chipper. They then hold Maya hostage in their underground hideout, where Gregory brands Maya with the smiley face tattoo and forces her to wear Shelly's old mask. Additional flashbacks reveal Gregory and Shelly met Jasmine as teenagers when she was passing through Venus. When Jasmine's boyfriend made a pass at Shelly, they followed them to the motel to kill them, but Jasmine had already killed him. Jasmine then joined forces with Gregory and Shelly. Back in the present day, Maya's sister, Debbie, and her husband, Howard, arrive in Venus from Portland, having travelled there after Maya's EMT never brought her to Portland. They begin to suspect Sheriff Rotter's ill intentions after being tipped off by Carol's Diner waitress Annie, and follow him with their bodyguard, Marcus. Sheriff Rotter later kills his deputy, Tommy Walters, after he realizes Rotter has been aiding the perpetrators in their crimes.

Meanwhile, Gregory ties Maya up and forces her into the truck, whereupon he and Jasmine take her to scope out a new victim. They spot a couple at the nearby gas station and follow them back to the Venus Motel; they then train Maya to act as Pin-Up Girl and ask if Tamara is home. When the couple refuse to open the door, Gregory smashes it down and ties the couple to chairs; when Maya refuses to choose one of the couple to kill, he murders the male. However, whilst distracted, Maya ambushes Jasmine, stabbing her with her machete before smashing her skull open and killing her. Gregory then forces Maya's hand, and kills the woman using Jasmine's machete. He then forces Maya back in the truck and is alerted by Sheriff Rotter that Debbie and Howard are tailing him and he is leading them to the sawmill.

Debbie and Howard seek refuge in an abandoned trailer whilst Marcus goes to investigate; however, Marcus is killed by Sheriff Rotter at the sawmill. Gregory arrives at the trailer site and taunts Debbie and Howard before flipping the trailer with his truck. He breaks into the trailer and kills Howard with his axe, then forces Debbie outside, killing her as Maya, tied up in the truck, watches on. Gregory then grabs Jasmine's body and loads it into Sheriff Rotter's car before untying Maya and leaving her with the truck and a knife. Maya puts Debbie's dead body into the truck and drives out of Venus. However, realizing Gregory's murders will continue, Maya turns back and arrives at his underground hideout.

Maya enters the hideout with a shotgun (previously taken from Ryan) that was kept in the truck. Finding Sheriff Rotter, she shoots him dead. She then enters Gregory's shrine, whereupon Gregory unmasks himself, and the two bond over having everything they cared for taken away by each other. Maya then reveals she will not kill Gregory and that she is in love with him. As the two embrace, Maya stabs Gregory with the knife he left her with, revealing her attraction was a ploy to get him to lower his guard. She then finishes him off with his axe before departing the lair with his mask.

• Madelaine Petsch as Maya, the only survivor of the Strangers
• Gabriel Basso as Gregory / Scarecrow, a Venus local and one of the masked strangers who is targeting Maya
  • Jake Cogman as young Gregory
  • Kyle Breitkopf as teenage Gregory
• Ema Horvath as Shelly / Pin-Up Girl, a waitress at Carol's Diner and one of the masked strangers, who was killed by Maya
  • Nola Wallace as young Shelly
  • Finn Cofell as teenage Shelly
• Ella Bruccoleri as Jasmine / Dollface, a Venus local and one of the masked strangers who is targeting Maya.
  • Stephanie Aubertin as teenage Jasmine
• Richard Brake as Sheriff Rotter, the town sheriff and Gregory's father
• Rachel Shenton as Debbie, Maya's sister who comes to Venus from Portland to track down Maya
• George Young as Howard, Debbie's husband and Maya's brother-in-law who comes to Venus from Portland to track down Maya
• Miles Yekinni as Marcus, Debbie and Howard's chauffeur and bodyguard who assists them in their search of Maya

Principal photography on all three films commenced in September 2022 in Bratislava, Slovakia[5] and wrapped in November 2022.[6][7] Following the release of The Strangers: Chapter 1, The Strangers – Chapter 2 and The Strangers – Chapter 3 underwent a month of additional photography to rework the film with audience feedback from the first film in mind.[8] Three weeks of the reshoots were devoted to Chapter 3.[9]

The Strangers – Chapter 3 had its world premiere at Los Angeles on January 15, 2026,[10] and was released in the United States on February 6, 2026.[11]

The Strangers – Chapter 3 grossed $8 million in the United States and Canada.[4]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 18% of 44 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A dismal conclusion to a trilogy that had already exhausted The Strangers' appeal from the jump, this final chapter goes to show that familiarity can breed contempt."[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 19 out of 100, based on eleven critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[13][14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the franchise.[15]

Petsch stated that all three chapters were going to be edited together with an intermission in the middle; a theatrical release was planned.[16]

• The Strangers – Chapter 3 at IMDb