{"id":51629,"date":"2024-05-17T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2040289"},"modified":"2024-05-17T13:02:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T11:02:38","slug":"the-strangers-chapter-1-ending-explained-director-on-how-it-sets-up-sequel","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-strangers-chapter-1-ending-explained-director-on-how-it-sets-up-sequel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Strangers: Chapter 1 ending explained \u2013 Director on\u00a0how it sets up sequel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veteran filmmaker Renny Harlin explains how the ending will be further explored in Chapter 2 \u2013\u00a0which should arrive later in the year. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 17 May 2024 at 10:00 AM<\/p>

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So far, there have only been two films released in horror franchise The Strangers \u2013 the 2008 original, and a sequel subtitled Prey at Night a decade later \u2013 but in the next few months, that number is set to increase dramatically.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because veteran filmmaker Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Deep Blue Sea) has directed not one, not two, but three <\/em>new movies, with each of them set to be released between now and the early months of 2025.<\/p>\n

The three films will form a self-contained trilogy that Harlin hopes will eventually be watched by fans as one epic movie, with the director telling RadioTimes.com<\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019ll see who are those diehard fans who are willing to sit in the movie theatre for four and a half hours to watch the whole thing in one go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first entry in the trilogy, titled The Strangers: Chapter 1, has just arrived in UK cinemas \u2013 and will seem fairly familiar to most viewers in that it sticks pretty closely to the original film.<\/p>\n

Once again, there\u2019s a young couple (this time played by Riverdale\u2019s Madelaine Petsch and Teen Wolf\u2019s Froy Gutierrez) who decamp to a secluded cabin, only to find themselves inexplicably targeted by a trio of masked figures whose motives remain completely unclear.<\/p>\n

But how does the film end for characters Maya and Ryan? And what does that mean for the next film in the trilogy? Read on to have all that explained by Harlin himself.<\/p>\n

Warning \u2013 Full spoilers for The Strangers: Chapter 1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Strangers: Chapter 1 ending explained \u2013 Director on how it sets up sequel<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Following a horrendous night of terror \u2013 that includes some very <\/em>gory moments, and even sees Ryan killing a local after mistaking him for one of the assailants \u2013 it appears as if both Maya and Ryan\u2019s situation is hopeless when they are knocked out and tied to chairs facing the masked strangers before being stabbed and apparently left for dead.<\/p>\n

After watching Ryan seemingly succumb to his wounds, Maya blacks out, only to wake up sometime later in a bed. It remains a mystery what exactly happened to her and how she survived<\/strong>, but Harlin promises that this will be explored in the remaining two films.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat definitely appealed to me [about the project] was not to make a remake, or to make a sequel, but to, like, reimagine this whole premise,\u201d he explained during an exclusive interview.<\/p>

\u201cAnd having been a huge fan of the original film, I felt like getting a chance to do a four-and-a-half hour exploration of these characters in three movies that directly follow each other \u2013 it\u2019s basically a story that takes place in five days, and starts with the idea like, OK, in the original movie, what if Liv Tyler lived? What would happen to her [the] next day? How would all this affect her?\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cAnd what if the killers when they realised that she didn\u2019t die\u2026 what if they came after her again? What would happen? How do we, you know, explore her psyche? And also explore the killers and get some answers?<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to say that we are just going to nicely explain everything, you know, why are they killers, and where are they doing this. But still, you know, explore them more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a unique opportunity, maybe [the] first time in the history of cinema, that you can do quite something like this. So that\u2019s why I thought this was an opportunity that I couldn\u2019t pass by.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Froy\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Froy Gutierrez as Ryan and Madelaine Petsch as Maya in The Strangers: Chapter 1.<\/span><\/figcaption> Lionsgate<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Meanwhile, teasing the tone of the next film, Harlin said that each of the chapters would \u201cget more epic as we go\u201d.<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cSo, the first one is a home invasion movie, then the second one is really like, \u2018OK, what happens after that? Where does she go? How does she try to survive and get away from these killers? And when the killers realised that she survived, what do they do?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the environments get more epic, her journey gets more epic, the violence gets more epic. And at the same time, we wanted to always keep a sense of reality and that sense of dread and tension there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when I say epic, it doesn\u2019t mean necessarily that the events get bigger. Because for these movies, I think it was always very important just to keep it on a level of reality, so that the audience can relate to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like when I\u2019m making an action movie, where it\u2019s instinctual to say bigger is better, more is more. Now, it was the opposite. It was sometimes the smallest details were much more frightening than, you know\u2026 it\u2019s not about blowing up buildings or doing a car chase. It\u2019s about keeping it very subjective and real so that the audience feels always like they could be in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, it looks like we\u2019ll have to wait for the next film \u2013 which Harlin envisages will be released in \u201cOctober or November\u201d \u2013 to get our answers.<\/p>\n

And given Froy Gutierrez is listed in the cast for the next two films, could Ryan also make a very unlikely comeback, or might he just appear in flashbacks? We\u2019ll just have to wait and see\u2026<\/p>\n