The Strangers: Chapter 2 Slammed By Critics As Rotten Tomatoes Score Craters

The Strangers: Chapter 2 crashes onto Rotten Tomatoes with a brutal score and savage reviews. The 2024 first chapter was panned too yet scared up big box-office returns—will the sequel repeat the feat?

The Strangers: Chapter 2 is rolling into theaters with the same energy as Chapter 1, and by that I mean critics are not feeling it. The Rotten Tomatoes score is low out of the gate, and the early reviews are rough. Then again, Chapter 1 got dragged too and still made money, so clearly this franchise has a weird relationship with critics, audiences, or both.

Where the numbers are at

As of now, Chapter 2 sits at 25% on Rotten Tomatoes from 12 reviews. That is a hair better than Chapter 1’s 21% — not exactly a victory lap, but technically an improvement. The movie opens in the U.S. on September 26, so that score will shift as more reviews show up. If history repeats, the filmmakers are probably crossing their fingers for another box-office rebound despite the critical drubbing.

The vibe from critics

"At once explaining too much and not enough, this middle segment of the trilogy fails to amp up the stranger danger."

That was Empire Magazine’s Jamie Graham, who also joked that the scariest moment might be the words on the screen at the end: 'To be continued...'

• Empire Magazine (Jamie Graham): Says the movie suffers classic middle-chapter syndrome — over-explains and under-delivers — and lands with a shrug instead of scares.
• Slant Magazine (Mark Hanson): Notes the sequel’s most noticeable trait is how much it resembles Rick Rosenthal’s Halloween II, and not in a flattering, homage-y way.
• Bloody Disgusting (Meagan Navarro): Calls out a weak post-credits tease for the third and final chapter and argues Chapter 2 mostly strangles whatever curiosity was left about this trilogy.
• RogerEbert.com (Brian Tallerico): Labels the film a slog and says it ping-pongs between nonsense and outright insulting the audience’s intelligence.
• Looper (Alistair Ryder): A rare positive-ish take — admits it adds nothing new to the genre, but likes the pivot into survival-thriller territory and finds it a cleaner breath of air after a very tired first installment.

The big picture

Chapter 2 is the second entry in this current Strangers trilogy — Chapter 1 arrived in 2024, got panned, and still pulled a box-office win. This middle movie is catching similar heat, with reviewers split between annoyed, bored, and mildly optimistic about the shift in tone. There’s a post-credits setup for the third and final chapter, but even fans who stuck around for it seem skeptical. Inside baseball note: the Halloween II comparisons are not subtle, which is either a fun nod or a distraction depending on your tolerance for déjà vu.

Bottom line: the critical score is grim, the word of mouth is mixed-to-bad, and yet there’s precedent for these movies doing just fine with audiences. If Chapter 1 taught us anything, it’s that low Tomatoes don’t always mean low turnout.