just a stranger movie review

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‘Just a Stranger’ review: Purposeful excesses

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

At first glance, Jason Paul Laxamana’s Just a Stranger seems beholden to formula.

Thankfully, there seems to be more to the film than meets the eye.

In place and further piling

All the tropes are not just in place. 

They pile upon each other, making it seem like Just a Stranger is a comedy that thrives in exaggeration, in depicting the most ridiculous of romances. Laxamana’s film, however, does not subscribe to the thrills, intrigues, and fantasies of the scandal-ridden romances that it exploits. Instead, it puts a daring spotlight in the absurdity of it all. Perhaps even more fascinating is that it is nearly impossible not to lap it all up and greedily consume all of its blatant excesses all for the purpose of instant gratification.

Mae (Anne Curtis), a thirty-something woman, hooks up with Jericho (Marco Gumabao), a boy half her age, in historic Lisbon. What’s supposed to be just a May-December fling set in a romantic European destination ends in an affair. Mae is married to Phil (Edu Manzano), a businessman who is himself much older than Mae. Back in the Philippines, the foreign-set one-night stand evolves into a full-blown illicit affair where both Mae and Jericho are forced to sacrifice certain comforts all for the sake of love.

Again, the plot isn’t at all new and novel. 

This has all been done before, perhaps with more seriousness, elegance and grace. What ultimately separates Just a Stranger from all the other love stories that tread dangerous soil involving age gaps or marital vows is that Laxamana seems to know fully well that what he is crafting is preposterous. He doesn’t resort to disrespect the genre with express campiness, but only peppers the film with bits and slivers of humor, just enough jabs and witticisms to tip the scale in an otherwise serious scene to result in giggles. 

The fantasy, the delusions, the reverie

Laxamana admits to the fantasy, the delusions, and the reverie.

Despite Just a Stranger ’s affinity for titillation and sensationalism, it still manages to allow restraint. A lot of the film is left as questions, eliciting discourse within the framework of plebeian and escapist entertainment. 

For example, Mae’s character before she was married to Phil was never really revealed, putting the past lives of protagonists as irrelevant in their quest for redemption. The cause of Jericho’s eventual fate in the film is left in the shadows, opening an avenue for discussions on the state of politics in the Philippines or the extent of toxic masculinity in marital relationships.

The performances are consistent.

Curtis is a spectacle here and while her diction seems to betray her presumed past, it also adds to the ludicrousness that is the film’s primary asset. Gumabao is a revelation here, as he unflinchingly allows himself to be a subject of caricature, a man baby who is not just believable but also charming in his immaturity.

Irony and sarcasm

There is enough in Laxamana’s film to convince that it isn’t a simple rehash of storylines and stereotypes. 

There are traces of ambition beneath all the cheap pleasures and grandiose melodrama that the film sells as its assets. The wit and savvy never really overpowers the film’s pulpiness.

However, the film never surrenders to being downright dumb just to tickle the imaginations of its audience. There is irony and sarcasm. There is camp reminiscent of the soap operas of decades ago. — Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.

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Just a Stranger

Where to Watch

Anne Curtis (Mae) Marco Gumabao (Jericho) Edu Manzano (Phil) Cherie Gil (Hilda) Robert Seña (Rufi) Isay Alvarez (Judy) Ana Abad Santos (Charlene) Menggie Cobarrubias (Gov. Roy) Carl Guevarra (Warren) Danita Paner (Kim)

Jason Paul Laxamana

A story of a woman and a man, half of her age being in love with each other despite the fact that they are both tied with someone else.

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REVIEW: Anne Curtis, Marco Gumabao sizzle in Just a Stranger

In less than one month, we’ve now seen three Filipino movies about May-December affairs, Belle Douleur and Malamaya in the 2019 Cinemalaya festival and now, Just A Stranger from Viva Films.

Aside from its theme, one thing all three films have in common is that they involve an older woman in a relationship with a much younger man.

Directed by prolific filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana, Just A Stranger follows the story of Mae (played by Anne Curtis), a beautiful woman married to Phil (Edu Manzano), an older man who is more concerned with his business than spending time with her.

While vacationing with friends in Lisbon, Portugal, Mae meets Jericho (Marco Gumabao), the handsome young son of a career diplomat (Robert Seña) who happens to be the Philippine ambassador in that country.

Jericho flirts with her at the beach. She calls him “Totoy” but just the same spends more time with him as he offered to be her personal tour guide. Their flirting ends up with them renting a room which she paid for.

Soon, their “one-time thing” as Mae would prefer to call it becomes a full-blown romance when they later meet again at the Old Railway Station museum in San Fernando, Pampanga where Jericho (fondly referred to by her parents as JekJek) is now apprenticing.

And while Phil treats Mae more like a trophy rather than someone he truly cares about, he is still concerned about his public reputation especially since he is depicted as a “rising star” in his industry. Although not without his own share of indiscretions, he is nonetheless not thrilled to learn about his wife’s affair.

Easily the best thing going for Just A Stranger is the chemistry between the two leads.

Audiences can feel sparks flying between Anne and Marco from the moment of their first encounter at the beach to their steamy love scenes right down to the moments their characters began to get to know each other better.

Despite her youthful appearance and the fact that she’s really “only” nine years older than Marco and not half her age as the film underscores, Anne does a good job of placing more emphasis on Mae’s circumstances as a bored and neglected wife whose needs go beyond the material things provided by her wealthy husband.

Dressed elegantly for much of the film, Anne delivers a mostly restrained performance that delineates her character’s maturity, which nicely complements her younger partner’s impulsive ways.

Laxamana provided a nice touch in depicting Mae as also suffering from the debilitating rheumatoid disorder fibromyalgia syndrome or FMS which provided more opportunities for her to get to know Jericho and realized that he is not just into her for the sex.

As Jericho, Marco is the real revelation here and not just because he is the third actor to expose his butt in a May-December story this August. It’s because he displays remarkable range and depth in essaying a character who has everything he needs except what he really wants.

Tormented not only by the fact that his family is grooming him to be the politician he despises, it also doesn’t help that he is in a doomed relationship with a married woman that well, for starters, he cannot make public.

Even when Mae was willing to risk giving up everything to be with him, Marco was terrific in showing how the burden of taking their romance to the next level weighed heavily on Jericho. Watch out for this kid. He’s destined for bigger things.

As Phil, Edu was amazing as an older man just as the late, great Eddie Garcia deftly played in his younger years. Calm and collected even when he’s obviously upset, Edu delivered the film’s most memorable line when Phil made it clear to his wife that while he can’t stop her from seeing her younger paramour, he certainly won’t allow her to finance her betrayal with his own money.

Like most films that involve illicit affairs, Just A Stranger falls prey to tried-and-tested clichés that include yes, the wealthy and increasingly powerful husband that Edu portrayed. The audience will get an inkling feeling that things are not likely going to end well for Mae and Jericho.

It was also somewhat of a dead giveaway that the film’s opening scene showed Mae wearing black and seemingly in mourning when she went to the church’s confessional.

It was also hard to believe that Mae did not leave her husband for good or at least sought an annulment when he cut her access to his wealth and credit cards that she is now reduced to selling her expensive clothes and accessories online.

During the final act, it was also strange that she was able to rent an expensive looking townhouse when she was previously seen renting a cheaper looking place during an earlier part of the movie.

It’s getting to be some kind of trend that when it comes to steamy love scenes, the men are the ones who expose more skin. Male butt exposures are getting to be commonplace on the big screen and we’re not sure if that’s a good thing.

Laxamana—being no stranger to May-December romances ( Mercury is Mine ) and doomed love stories ( 100 Tula Para Kay Stella, The Day After Valentine’s ) —has been honed enough to deliver a very polished product with excellent production values, especially in the scenes set in Lisbon.

Despite its predictability and teleserye tendencies, Just A Stranger is a well-crafted film that—while far from offering a fresh take on either May-December romances or forbidden affairs—takes Anne Curtis to uncharted and exciting territory, something she could further explore in future projects.

For Marco Gumabao, it is definitely a starmaking vehicle that should take his career to the next level.

And for writer-director Jason Paul Laxamana, the film is yet another proof why he is one of the most sought after filmmakers in the country. He simply delivers.

Just a Stranger , which is rated R-16 by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, is currently being screened in cinemas.

Ed's Note: The "PEP Review" section carries the views of individual reviewers, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the PEP editorial team.

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Just a Stranger (2019)

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Hollow and Contrived: a review of ‘Just a Stranger’

• August 22, 2019

From the opening scene alone, writer and director Jason Paul Laxamana should have leaned into the campiness of his new film ‘Just a Stranger’ . Anne Curtis’ Mae enters a church in midday wearing black, fancy clothes and enters the confessional booth to confess. The church is empty but there is a priest inside just waiting to hear her story, which propels us into the background of her affair with a younger man, Marco Gumabao’s Jericho.

The whole beginning — from the setting, the narrative setup, and the dialogue — feels contrived and this carries over throughout the film. The confession begins in Lisbon, Portugal for no other reason than to put the story into a foreign place, which has become part and parcel of many romantic movies we’ve seen in the past five years (or even ten years). Mae is just visiting with friends while Jericho has been living there for a year because his father is the Philippine ambassador to Portugal. 

This doesn’t really do much for the story other than give it an exotic vibe as Mae and Jericho tease each other about their ages; she being too old and he being too young. This is the other major contrived element of the film because Jericho is 19 going on 20 while the older Mae never really reveals her age. This becomes problematic because Anne Curtis does not look like the “lola” or the “tita” that she is being teased for and neither does Marco Gumabao look 19 or 20 to be as childish/totoy as the film’s script tries to paint him as (in fact, a quick search online shows that Gumabao is 25, which he really looks).

On a casting point alone, the film asks you to look at this couple as if there’s something taboo about their age difference but visually, onscreen they don’t look that far apart. As wonderful an actress as Anne is, it doesn’t make sense to paint her as a tita nor should there be anything illicit about having an affair with Marco Gumabao’s Jericho, who doesn’t at all look like he’s turning 20 no matter how hard he tries to act young.

What further complicates their relationship is that they are both committed to other people. 

The film then tries its best to put the two characters together and gives them every reason to fall into each other’s arms She is in an unhappy marriage and his whole life is controlled by his parents and his girlfriend and the people around him.

The film is at its most interesting when it is focused on Jericho’s angst. The moments when the manifestations of his youth — his inability to stand up to his parents — conflict with what Mae needs from him, which is to be an adult. This is, what I feel, the crux of the movie: that their desire for one another becomes a catalyst for change in their lives.

But the film never really dwells there. While Jericho’s character finds an arc, the more prominent character of Mae never seems to rise above her need for a man. Never does the film really explore her own personal desires. We don’t ever get to really glimpse into who Mae is outside of her relationship with Jericho and her husband Phil.

Anne Curtis is a wonderful actress and she’s proven it in her last few films from ‘Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story’ and ‘Buy Bust’ and ‘Aurora’ but even she finds difficulty creating something out of the hollow character that is Mae. No amount of maturity she imbibes Mae with can make the character rise from what she’s given in the script. She shows us again her skill to get really vulnerable at the latter part of the movie when her character has more to draw from, which only comes from what has transpired before. 

Even usually amazing actors like Edu Manzano, Ana Abad Santos, Robert Sena, and Cherie Gil can’t find their footing with characters that merely service the plot rather than a real, breathing world. ‘Just a Stranger’ exists merely to highlight Mae and Jericho’s relationship, giving Mae every reason to need someone from her reasons to getting married to Phil in the first place to having a condition like FMS or fibromyalgia syndrome, which again does nothing for Mae’s character or the story except to make her need someone to care for her.

‘Just a Stranger’ could have benefitted from leaning into its melodrama narrative and veering into camp territory, which it does quite often with Anne Curtis’ conversation with the priest (which elicited quite a lot of laughs) and from every excuse to take off Marco Gumabao’s clothes. Had it not taken itself too seriously, ‘Just a Stranger’ could have covered more ground and allowed the actors to just play rather than approach the material so close to the hilt.

Jason Paul Laxama has done great work with ‘Between Maybes’ and ‘To Love Some Buddy’ but this feels like a step back.

My Rating: 

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Just a stranger.

Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana

A story of a woman and a man, half of her age being in love with each other despite the fact that they are both tied with someone else.

Anne Curtis Marco Gumabao Edu Manzano Cherie Gil Ana Abad-Santos Robert Seña Isay Alvarez Menggie Cobarrubias Jas Rodriguez Danita Paner

Director Director

Jason Paul Laxamana

Philippines

Primary language, spoken languages.

Tagalog English

Drama Romance

Releases by Date

21 aug 2019, releases by country.

• Theatrical R-16

117 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Terence Ang 洪偉凱 ★ 2

Marco Gumabao flexes his biceps; Marco Gumabao shows off his bum and puts his Bench Body on; Marco Gumabao flaunts his six-pack; Marco Gumabao bubble-baths, more abs, and puts his Bench Body on; Marco Gumabao shows off his pits for a good one to two minutes.

Jason Paul Laxamana whores Gumabao out for two hours, and then...

"Who are you?" "No one. I'm just a stranger."

Marco Gumabao, please just slit my throat with that jawline for daaaze!

Review by z ★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

lmao im losing my mind what the fuck was going on the whole time??? I don't know but boy was it fun lmaooo like I couldn't take it seriously but I enjoyed it  

some things: - I think it's Hilarious how they keep trying to say Anne looks old???? She's 35??????? She doesn't look like she can be Marco's Tita????? - the dialogue was too contrived but like whatever it's sooooo fun - IM LOSING MY MIND OVER HIM JUST. STRAIGHT UP DYING LMAO SKJSKDKDK WTFFFF IS GOING ONNNNNNNN !!!! I COULD NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!!!! The fake out eulogy was fun tho like I love how it was just in her head because like of course  - lmao…

Review by John Tawasil ★★½

There was a scene in this film where Marco Gumabao farted while MOMOL-ing Anne Curtis and I felt like that was relateable content

Review by Kat ★½

Nakakaloka yung flimsiness ng material na tipong nung nagroroll na yung credits tinatry kong i-figure out kung ano ba yung pinanood ko?

Good cinematography, average acting, pero yung script talaga and the story itself! SOBRANG NIPIS THERE'S LITERALLY NOTHING THERE! Nakiride lang sa older woman younger man trend to.

Neither characters were fleshed out, there's /some/ chemistry but not enough to make me believe that Anne was in love with Marco lol. Too many loose strings.

I know they're supposed to be strangers to each other pero shet strangers din sila sa audience lol

Two things though: -Cherie Gil -Diablita

Review by Sudar 😌 Manto ★★★

Just another erotic pinoy love affair themed.

Hmmm, yaahh si cowok yang masih ingusan ketemu perempuan beristri dan akhirnya berhubungan badan.

Kisahnya dibuat tragis sih. Kasian si berondong. Menjelang ending kirain si tante beneran ngamuk di gereja.

Review by meovvn ★★★

2 hours talaga nangumpisal si accla

Review by 𝗆𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗌 ★½

me when the judgmental chismosong priest started bombarding mae with questions about her affair: ah yes finally a character i can relate to on the big screen

Review by Jay ★★ 1

Review by Patrise ★★½

1 star for the consistent color palette 1 star for Anne Curtis Half star para sa mga kaibigan ni Mae na gumastos ng sandamakmak para bumisita sa isang palasyo sa Portugal na mukha lang naman daw resort sa Bulacan

Also, ang lakas maka-Lasallian ni Jek-Jek muahahaha. Ayokong mag perpetuate ng stereotypes pero ang dami ko talagang naging kaklase na ganyan umasta at manamit.

Review by Angel ★

Buong time na nanunuod kami ni MJ nagccringe kami tas iritang irita kami sa nag direct nagsulat tas nakita ko dito si jason laxamana pala,,, makes sense

Review by riah ★

my mom suggested that we watch this tapos iritang irita lang siya all throughout

(pero one star for that judgmental chismosong pari)

Review by mae ★★★

honestly a 2.5 but made it a 3 cos watching films in the philippines is a whole damn experience also i want anne curtis to rail me 🥺

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Want to watch ' Just a Stranger ' on your TV, phone, or tablet? Tracking down a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or watch the Jason Paul Laxamana-directed movie via subscription can be difficult, so we here at Moviefone want to do the work for you. Read on for a listing of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'Just a Stranger' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into all the details of how you can watch 'Just a Stranger' right now, here are some details about the Viva Films drama flick. Released , 'Just a Stranger' stars Anne Curtis , Marco Gumabao , Edu Manzano , Cherie Gil The movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 57 min, and received a user score of 60 (out of 100) on TMDb, which put together reviews from 2 top users. What, so now you want to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "A story of a woman and a man half of her age being in love with each other despite the fact that they are both tied with someone else" 'Just a Stranger' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Apple iTunes, and YouTube .

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The Stranger

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Watch The Stranger with a subscription on Netflix.

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A masterful blend of genre elements, The Stranger brings a tautly told mystery to life with simmering tension and a pair of outstanding lead performances.

The Stranger 's slow burn may fizzle out for some viewers, but if you're on the right wavelength, this brooding crime thriller has a way of getting under the skin.

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Just A Stranger

Despite their commitments to others, a woman and a man half of her age fall for each other.

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A story of a woman and a man, half of her age being in love with each other despite the fact that they are both tied with someone else.

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‘The Strangers: Chapter 1’ Review: Crowded House

A reboot of the 2008 home invasion film “The Strangers” brings back masked assailants and brutal violence but leaves originality behind.

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By Erik Piepenburg

The key to a terrific scary home invasion horror movie is not just how domesticity gets breached but why. It’s great to have a determined aggressor, sympathetic victims and a brutal invasion that’s contained and sustained. But to what end?

Yet some of the best home invasion films — “Funny Games,” “Them” — don’t supply easy answers. “The Strangers,” Bryan Bertino’s terrifying 2008 thriller starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a couple under siege, didn’t either. It kept the invaders’ motives and their identities mysterious, amping up the devil-you-don’t-know terrors with a sense of randomness that was despairing. The premise and execution were simple. The payoff was a gut punch.

On its face, “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” the first of three new films in a “Strangers” reboot from the director Renny Harlin (“ A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master ”), checks all the same boxes. But the hapless script — written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland and based on the original — offers nothing fresh in a tiring 91 minutes, and nothing daring to justify a new “Strangers” film, let alone a new series, especially when Bertino’s formidable film is streaming on Max .

This new tale begins with Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and her boyfriend, Ryan (Froy Gutierrez), taking a fifth anniversary road trip through the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in a rural Oregon town, they meet a seen-it-before who’s who of horror movie yokeldom: unsmiling boys, sweaty bumpkin mechanics, a diner waitress whose eyes scream “run, if you know what’s good.”

As Maya and Ryan wait for their car to be fixed, they decide to spend the night at a secluded rental cabin. Under darkness there’s a knock at the door and, true to the home invasion formula, our leading sweethearts get terrorized until dawn inside the cabin and through the woods by a trio of assailants with big weapons and indefinite end goals. They have face coverings too, making menace out of the same blank-faced creepiness the villains embodied in the original film and its 2018 sequel.

Harlin is known for action films, including “Die Hard 2,” and those chops come in handy here, especially when he’s left hanging by a sleepy middle section of frantic chases and failed attacks that feel like padding. Cat-and-mouse games can be compelling, but here , like a “Tom and Jerry” marathon, they get repetitive, dulling the impact of the violence. Petsch and Gutierrez have sufficient enough rapport, and border on sharing a couple’s chemistry as the final stretch comes to a too-predictable conclusion.

The film’s few thrilling moments have little to do with blood and guts and more with the juxtaposition of dread and song, as when Joanna Newsom’s lilting hymn “Sprout and the Bean” and Twisted Sister’s power anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It” pop up unexpectedly to disorient the action. These and other oddball musical interludes provide too-fleeting hints of what might have been had this film sought a novel household takeover, not the same old.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 Rated R for heaps of ruthless violence and general despair. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. In theaters.

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Review: 'The Strangers - Chapter 1' is a rote rehash that lacks the original film's creepy suspense

“The Strangers - Chapter 1” is the third film in an ongoing franchise, following the surprise hit of 2008’s “The Strangers” and its diminishing-returns 2018 sequel, “The Strangers: Prey at Night.” The new film is also the first of three movies shot concurrently and intended to be released within the next year.

Director Renny Harlin , new to the series, is no stranger to sequels, with a long resume that includes “Die Hard 2” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.” There is a journeyman’s proficiency to “Chapter 1” but little in the way of real spark.

Young couple Maya ( Madelaine Petsch, also an executive producer) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) are on a road trip across the country so Maya can interview for a job at an architecture firm in Portland. After a bit of car trouble, they find themselves unexpectedly staying the night at a remote Airbnb in a small Oregon town. A stranger knocks on their door asking for someone who isn’t there and they soon find themselves besieged by a man and two women, all wearing eccentric masks.

The wittiest moment comes just a few minutes in when a title card declares how many violent crimes have occurred in America since the film began. There is little else in the movie that signals that kind of self-awareness aside from scattered acknowledgment of elements lifted from the first film, such as a specific song by Joanna Newsom on a record player. The most visually inventive idea in the entire movie is the placement of the camera inside a refrigerator as Gutierrez sets a six-pack of beer down and his face remains perfectly framed by the bottles.

Before the masked invaders have fully launched their attack, Maya and Ryan enjoy a post-coital cuddle on the sofa of their sketchy rental place, with Maya wearing only a shirt that skims the top of her thighs. Ryan goes into town under some pretense or another — there is much needless business in the film about a missing inhaler — leaving Maya by herself. As the Strangers methodically begin their sordid work, Maya hangs out, smokes pot, checks the door and noodles on a piano. Rather than wanting to scream for her to look out for what’s behind her, audiences may want to shout for her to just put on some pants.

The first “Strangers” movie had an air of creepy suspense, as the besieged couple often looked off into blank space, bringing an unnerving tension to what was often nothing. The new film never conjures the same feelings of rustic menace.

“The Strangers - Chapter 1” ends with a — spoiler alert! — title card that reads “To Be Continued.” (Plus a brief mid-credits stinger scene.) Building out the mythology of the attackers or making this anything other than a brief, inexplicable and random encounter, as the subsequent films apparently promise to do, diminishes the core terror of the essential premise of the first film, that sometimes bad things just happen.

There is a strange courage to assuming that your horror sequel will demand/deserve two more outings. Wanting audiences to sit through a warmed-over rehash of a preexisting film to get to even the possibility of something new in the story of the upcoming installments feels like a big ask.

The original “Strangers” made the walk to the parking lot after feel weird, or inspired some securing of doors and windows at home. Not so with the rote stylings of the new film. The knock at the door of “The Strangers - Chapter 1” can simply go unanswered.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the strangers: chapter 1.

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2008’s “ The Strangers ” didn’t seem like the kind of film that would produce a series when it was released. But it’s about to explode into precisely that with the release of “The Strangers Trilogy,” three films directed by Renny Harlin that serve as sort of a remake but also a prequel to the Bryan Bertino hit. In the 2008 film, an average couple, played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman , found themselves terrorized in a remote vacation home by three masked strangers. It’s an effective piece of genre filmmaking—as is the lesser-but-solid sequel “ The Strangers: Prey at Night ”—partly because there is no explanation for the terror. When Tyler’s Kristen wants to know why she’s being attacked, Gemma Ward ’s Dollface memorably replies, “Because you were home.” What’s more terrifying than random brutality? And why would anyone think we need to fill in the back stories of the Man in the Mask, Pin-Up Girl, and Dollface?

I don’t usually believe in knocking a film (or trilogy, in this case) merely on concept alone. It’s possible that the other two chapters in this trilogy, reportedly to be released within the next year, won’t fill in the blanks in a way that drains the power from one of the things that made “The Strangers” a hit. Honestly, I don’t know yet because “The Strangers: Chapter 1” is essentially a remake of Bertino’s film, ending with a post-credits tag scene that hints at a potentially more ambitious second chapter. This one largely goes through the motions of a horror remake, often feeling like a faded copy of the first film. Harlin injects it with a bit of his workman craft—he knows how to do this in his sleep; one wishes it didn’t make viewers drowsy, too.

Maya ( Madelaine Petsch of “Riverdale” fame) and Ryan ( Froy Gutierrez ) are traveling across the country when they take a wrong turn and end up in the kind of small town that’s not on most of the GPS systems. When they stop at a diner to get a meal, they meet some of the locals, including a Sheriff played by genre legend Richard Brake , who I have to believe plays a bigger role in chapters 2 and 3 because it’s a cameo here. More importantly, the creepy mechanics who see Maya and Ryan pull in clearly meddle with their vehicle because it won’t start when the couple gets back in it. Told the part to fix it won’t be in tonight, Maya and Ryan are pointed to an AirBnB on the edge of town where cell service is bad and shadowy figures lurk in the woods. You can guess what happens next.

Unlike a lot of DTV horror sequels over the years, Harlin brings a certain level of craft to “The Strangers: Chapter 1.” He likes to walk right up to the expected jump scare and then turn back, keeping viewers on their toes by not releasing the tension with a shout. The mid-section, wherein the masked trio seem to be almost supernaturally able to appear and disappear in the background of a frame just quickly enough that Maya doesn’t spot them, is actually effective; not up to the standards of the other two films in this series but better than a lot of home invasion junk out there. There’s a particularly effective shot with Maya at the piano, where Harlin and his team make great use of the mirror above it.

The problem is that we’ve seen this all before—like, literally—and there’s too little actual tension once Maya and Ryan realize they’re in serious trouble. The film falls apart when the hunt leaves the home and enters the poorly lit woods outside. The team here just doesn’t have the technical acumen to make these sequences work—they’re much better in the defined space of the house than the loose geography outside—and it makes all of “The Strangers: Chapter 1” feel more like an obligation before the team is allowed to break the mold in the next two films, which were shot concurrently with this one.

Once we're able to see Harlin's new trilogy as a whole, “Chapter 1” might feel more essential to the 4.5-hour experience. Right now, it just feels overly familiar.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)

Madelaine Petsch as Maya

Froy Gutierrez as Ryan

Gabriel Basso as Gregory

Ema Horvath as Shelly

Richard Brake as Sheriff Rotter

Rachel Shenton as Debbie

• Renny Harlin
• Alan R. Cohen
• Alan Freedland
• Bryan Bertino

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Is the strangers: chapter 1 a prequel, remake or reboot it's complicated.

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The Strangers: Chapter 2 - Confirmation, Cast, Story & Everything We Know

The strangers 2 already has a massive problem after chapter 1's cliffhanger ending, the strangers new trilogy detail hints the perception of chapter 1 will quickly change.

Warning: Minor spoilers for The Strangers: Chapter 1!

• The Strangers trilogy is not a remake or a reboot but a relaunch of the franchise.
• Chapter 1 explores the same concept as the original film, with future sequels set to reveal the origins of the three masked killers.
• Despite similarities to the 2008 film, the new trilogy plans to take the franchise in new directions.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 officially expanded The Strangers movie franchise, but whether it's a remake of the original film or a reboot is complicated. The original two Strangers films focus on three masked murderers who go after innocent people who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Renny Harlin's new The Strangers trilogy will attempt to keep with the same concept as the original, with Chapter 1 following a young couple forced to stay at a remote AirBnB after their car breaks down in Oregon, resulting in a terrifying encounter with Dollface, the Man in the Mask, and the Pin-Up Girl.

The Strangers and Prey at Night were big box office successes when they premiered in 2008 and 2018, making $82 million and $31 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo ) despite mixed reviews from critics. The Strangers' new trilogy will look to make a similar splash at the box office with a risky release format that will result in The Strangers: Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 arriving just months apart. While The Strangers: Chapter 1 's cast and characters imply a completely different story, the connection to the past movies has been confusing.

The terrifying home invasion franchise returns in The Strangers: Chapter 1, and fans won't have to wait long to witness Chapter 2 later in 2024.

Is The Strangers: Chapter 1 A Prequel?

The strangers trailer caused prequel confusion.

Considering The Strangers: Chapter 1 's trailer highlighted the tagline of " Witness how the strangers became the strangers ," there was a belief that Harlin's new installments in The Strangers movie franchise would be prequels. With the implication that Chapter 1 would explain the background of The Strangers ' three killers, believing the movie serves as a prequel is understandable. However, the tagline is a bit misleading since The Strangers: Chapter 1 is in no way a prequel since it's set in the modern day. Other than the killers and the overall concept, there are no direct connections made to the past movies.

The Strangers' New Trilogy Isn't A Direct Remake Or Reboot

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is almost a beat-by-beat copy of the 2008 movie

In an interview (via Comicbook.com ) , director Renny Harlin revealed that the new Strangers trilogy is not considered a direct remake or reboot of the original movies . In the same interview, he promised that the original movies would be referenced with Easter eggs throughout The Strangers trilogy. With Harlin's installments serving as a standalone film series instead of a reboot of the original, Harlin also revealed that he has ensured that the old The Stranger films are honored in every way. Interestingly, The Strangers: Chapter 1 is almost a beat-by-beat copy of the 2008 movie, which is where the remake label gets more confusing.

Though not a direct remake, The Strangers: Chapter 1 should be viewed as a relaunch of the franchise . It follows a similar storyline to the 2008 release and even teases the true stories that inspired The Strangers original movie . Even as the upcoming sequels will go in new and fresh directions compared to past installments, eventually cementing this era of the franchise as a standalone story, for now, it's easy to see why Chapter 1 is incorrectly being considered a direct remake and a reboot.

Does The Strangers: Chapter 1 Take Place In The Same Universe As Past Movies?

Future installments will have to clarify the strangers' movie universe.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 has been confirmed to be set within the same universe as the previous movies , bringing back the same three masked killers from the original film. However, the exact connection gets murky when remembering the fate of the masked killers in Prey at Night. Based on The Strangers: Chapter 1 ' s ending , a lot more surrounding the killers will be explored in the next two movies. The trilogy will also reveal more about the origin story of the three masked intruders and answer questions from the original The Strangers movies that remain a mystery. In doing so, Harlin's next chapters will hopefully clarify how the story exists in the same universe despite its status as a standalone trilogy.

Source: Comicbook.com

The Strangers: Chapter 1

Sources: ComicBook.com

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The Haikyu!! movie delivers on 4 years of built-up fan hype

Fully!! ready!! to reenter!! my Haikyu!! era!!

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It’s been four years since the last season of Haikyu!! — a certified drought for fans of the sports anime and manga series, which follows an underdog high school volleyball team. Admittedly, long swaths of time between seasons is nothing new for Haikyu!! fans; there was a similar four-year gap between season 3 and season 4. But the wait time just stokes the fervor. The new movie Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle — opening in theaters ahead of a Crunchyroll streaming release — basically picks up right at the end of season 4, and returns Haikyu!! to what it does best. Director Susumu Mitsunaka, who worked on the first seasons of the show, returns for this movie, which is essentially just a direct sequel to season 4 — and the beginning of the manga’s final arc.

That makes it a fan-only proposition: If you already have an investment in the franchise’s volleyball teams and characters, this movie hits. And boy does it capture the epic highs of the show. It’s likely to fully reignite the fandom once again.

When we last left the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team, they were about to face off against their longtime rival, Nekoma High. But even though the two schools have historic beef, it all stems from a friendly place. Episodes in the first season showcased practice matches between the two teams, with a shared training-camp arc following in season 2. The show has fleshed out the Nekoma athletes and their relationships, both with one another and with members of the Karasuno team. At this point, the Nekoma team members are pretty much Haikyu!! ’s secondary characters, since we know so much about them. That makes the movie’s pivot to their side of the net make total sense.

Most of the movie centers around the Nekoma team, specifically their setter, Kenma Kozume. The film still spends time with the Karasuno team as they discuss strategy, with each of the main characters getting a chance to shine. But the story is mostly rooted in Kenma’s point of view, diving into his relationship with the sport, his teammates, and his rivals.

One of the first things series protagonist Hinata Shoyo learns about Kenma in their initial season 1 meeting is that even though he’s a really talented setter, he doesn’t actually like volleyball much. He plays because his best friend, Kuroo, is the team captain, and because Kenma enjoys analyzing his opponents and determining the best strategy to win. But he isn’t particularly athletic, and he’d rather play video games than volleyball. After the first practice match between Karasuno and Nekoma, Hinata tells Kenma that one day they’ll play a match against each other that will make Kenma admit volleyball is fun.

The movie integrates this scene, as well as other flashbacks to the show, in case you need help remembering specifics about moments that first aired years ago. But these flashbacks aren’t really useful if you don’t already have knowledge of and investment in these characters. The Dumpster Battle truly is a continuation of season 4, not a separate movie in its own pocket dimension, à la S py x Family Code: White or any of the Hunter x Hunter movies.

It’s a culmination of Nekoma’s arc in the show — and Kenma’s. The Karasuno team is still the central focal point, and the movie is still about how far they’ve come since season 1. But it’s viewed through Kenma’s eyes as he strategizes how his team can win. Karasuno has evolved greatly as a team since the first time Nekoma faced them, and now they offer Kenma a tantalizing challenge, the first time he’s found opponents totally worthy of his talents throughout his entire volleyball career. True to Haikyu!! fashion, the current match is interspersed with flashbacks from Kenma’s life, particularly when it comes to his relationship with volleyball, building out his motivations and making his current arc resonate even more.

Haikyu!! has always excelled at showing each player and team’s individual relationship to the sport, emphasizing that both teams deserve to win. There’s never an outright antagonist, even as Karasuno, the audience POV team, faces increasingly talented competitors. They’re all athletes bound by the love of their sport.

By the end of The Dumpster Battle , it’s hard not to cheer for Kenma, and the Nekoma team too, even though the end of the match seems like a foregone conclusion. (Karasuno has that protagonist plot armor.) We’ve learned so much about Nekoma from the show, and the movie weaves all that previous investment together with the current match, and with Kenma’s flashbacks to his relationship with volleyball. It’s an emotional journey across the board. (Er, court?) The way Kenma’s passion for the sport evolves, and the way the team members’ relationships with each other and with Karasuno manifest, is its own kind of win. Maybe it’s an even more satisfying type.

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle hits theaters on May 31.

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Tom Holland fans can’t cope with his divisive ‘footballer haircut’

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Tom Holland ’s new haircut is causing quite the online commotion.

The Spider-Man actor, 27, just opened his West End run of Romeo and Juliet , and fans are having a good chin wag all about it.

But it’s not his acting that has got everyone talking – although he was dubbed ‘mesmerising’ by critics – but his new hair.

Famed for his usual bouncy locks, the megastar looks totally different with a very short cut for his Shakespearean role. And fans are obsessed.

‘Okay, but Tom Holland’s new haircut has me in a chokehold,’ wrote @amielbaxter on X, while @fireflyCOYS said: ‘Tom Holland gets a footballer haircut and suddenly I see the vision.’

‘Tom Holland has actually never looked more attractive and I don’t understand how this ass haircut is doing this,’ added @myownjudgment, while newbie fan@quarrterlife said: ‘Never had an interest in Tom Holland but the haircut is doing WONDERS, he’s actually kinda hot.’

Tom’s barnet’s debut came as the preview night of Romeo and Juliet was cancelled last minute, sending fans into a frenzy online.

It was due to kick off at the Duke of York Theatre on Saturday May 11, but just a day before and fans were told the performance was not going ahead.

After thousands scrambled to bag tickets earlier this year, they were left disappointed when it was announced the play – starring Tom as Romeo and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet – ‘cannot go ahead as planned’.

According to  Deadline , the reason it was pulled was ‘due to the technical aspects of the production needing further preparation’.

However, the official opening night went ahead as planned on May 23, as Tom’s partner and fellow megastar Zendaya came out to support him and his hair.

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It appears that – unlike Tom’s short trim – the haircut is growing on fans as they initially took to social media with some reservations.

‘Why would Tom Holland cut his hair like that?’ asked @brycevglover while @luvsomebodyelse wrote: ‘Tom Holland’s hair I’m mourning.’

Reddit users were even more divided on the issue, with some claiming it makes the star look more ‘mature’ while others agreed he looks ‘like every other British guy’ with the new look.

User Zakrobbo2001 simply wrote, ‘Miss the curls,’ while Street_Peace_8831 disagreed, writing, ‘Honestly, I don’t think he could ever have a bad haircut. His face would make it look good.’

User saygirlie posted, ‘Tom’s face has matured (in a good way). He no longer looks like a young boy,’ to which Inf1nite_gal replied, ‘I think the haircut is helping too.’

But sakura0601x disagreed, writing: ‘This haircut is making him look like a roadman… who said this was ok????’

Kooky_Bodybuilder_97 agreed, posting: ‘That hair is a crime.’

Many agreed that the haircut makes him look like a British teenager, and not in a flattering way.

User, taxidermy_restaurant wrote: ‘It’s a triggering haircut for ppl who went to British secondary school.’

This comes after Tom suffered a nasty injury on St Andrew’s iconic golf course when a ball hit him in the head.

He missed the Met Gala – which his partner Zendaya, 27, attended in style and co-chaired – and documented his evening instead by showing fans his red golf ball-sized mark on his forehead.

‘Who ever said golf isn’t a contact sport is full of s**t. You can almost see the dimples,’ he wrote on a picture shared on  Instagram  of the mark.

He then linked to his father Dominic Holland’s Patreon site, where the doting dad shared an amusing story about the series of events which led the ball to Tom’s head.

Dominic shared that a gold ball did indeed hit his son’s head, but it was not a serious injury.

‘In fact, it was hit by a sand wedge from 80 yards albeit by a scratch golfer who should have known better and frankly been more accurate,’ he wrote, according to  Mail Online .

‘The offending player was Alex Roberts, a close friend of Tom’s… without knowing that his most important and highly valuable friend was off the green to his left.’

‘[Tom was] lucky then to be playing in Scotland (the home of golf) in April when woolly hats are mandatory for survival,’ his dad joked.

He was then ‘dispatched to hospital for some checks.’

Meanwhile Zendaya rocked the red carpet in two separate gowns, as Tom fawned over her at home sharing photos of her on social media looking radiant at the star-studded event.

Tom and Zendaya – who live together in London – finally confirmed dating rumours in 2021 which were first sparked when they shared the screen in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, where they forged a very close friendship.

In a chat with Extra, Tom previously revealed they often reflect over their Spider-Man days together where their relationship blossomed.

‘Zendaya and I will, every now and then, watch Spider-Man 1 and reminisce about being 19 and making those movies again,’ he said.

‘I love those movies, and I love savouring those moments, so I try not to watch them as often as I would maybe like to because it’s so special.

‘It’s such a luxury, such a gift to be able to sit down and sort of relive your youth.’

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Solidly scary 'The Strangers: Chapter 1' makes perfect use of the horror movie devices

Masked creeps from 2008 film torment young couple in a stylish, satisfying thrill ride..

Menacing attackers in masks turn up at a couple’s isolated Airbnb in “The Strangers: Chapter 1.”

Perhaps no other cinema genre is filled with as many tropes as the horror movie, to the point where the “Scream” franchise is one extended meta tribute to the “rules” of slasher films and the “Scary Movie[s]” take it even further by lampooning the satire. I’m surprised we haven’t had a “Super Scream-y Scary Movie” that takes the Easter Egging to the next level.

Now comes Renny Harlin’s “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” which has a bit of a funhouse mirror element of its own, as it bears similarities to the nasty little horror gem (and sleeper hit) “The Strangers” (2008), though the filmmakers are billing this new movie as the first of a three-part standalone trilogy and not a reboot or remake. (Judging by the smart phones used by the main characters and a scene involving FaceTime, it would appear to be a sequel, existing in the same “Strangers” universe, rather than a prequel.)

With a “Story by” credit for Bryan Bertino, who was writer-director of the original “Strangers,” and a screenplay by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, shooting on all three of the new films took place at the same time in Slovakia in the fall of 2022 — so we’re essentially getting one big slasher movie chopped (sorry) into three parts.

As for those tropes: With a nod to Jeff Foxworthy’s old “You might be a redneck …” routines, for Madelaine Petsch’s Maya and Froy Gutierrez’s Ryan, the young couple in this story, “You might be in a horror film” if …

• You roll into a spooky town in the middle of nowhere in your shiny BMW and walk into a diner where everyone in the place, including the shady-looking lawmen, look at you as if you’re from outer space, what with your clean clothes and your brushed teeth and your questions about whether the menu has any vegetarian options.

• On the wall in that diner: a flyer offering a reward for finding some rich city-slicker type who passed through town a while back and POOF! Disappeared just like that.
• After your car mysteriously breaks down (ahem) and the creepy local garage owner (ahem) says you’ll have to wait until tomorrow before he can get a replacement part (ahem), you check into a remote Airbnb house in the middle of the woods (ahem).

This is just the tip of the ax, so to speak. (The trailer gives away more plot developments than you’ll glean from my little tidbits.) Filmed with great style by the veteran director Harlin (“Die Hard 2,” “The Long Kiss Goodnight”) and featuring strong and empathic work by Petsch (“Riverdale”) as a classic Final Girl who is very smart and resilient but makes some truly terrible decisions in the clutch, “The Strangers: Chapter 1” is a well-paced, 91-minute thrill ride that provides a steady helping of jump scares while ending on a note that has us eagerly anticipating the next chapters in the saga.

Maya (Madelaine Petsch) doesn’t feel safe in her overnight lodging in “The Strangers: Chapter 1.”

Even though we’re deeply familiar with nearly every beat, that very familiarity is what makes it so fun. (I mean, come on Maya, you’re going to take a long shower after it’s been clearly established there’s danger lurking just outside or maybe even inside the cabin? Come ON, girl!)

Maya and Ryan are celebrating their fifth anniversary as a couple and are on the third day of a road trip (Maya hopes to clinch a high-paying, big-city job) when they take a detour to the small town of Venus, Oregon, stop at that diner and wind up spending the night at that Airbnb — a hunter’s home deep in the woods with a coop of clucking chickens, an ominous-looking shed out back and an interior design in the main house that practically screams, “Slasher Movie Digest.”

• ‘Abigail': When the victims aren’t exploding, the vampire story is meandering

They’re just settling in when there’s a loud pounding on the door, and there’s a girl standing in the dark on the porch and asking, “Is Tamara here?” She’ll return, more than once, before the night is over. After the second knock at the cabin, Maya and Ryan should have considered taking their chances in the woods.

It’s not long before the methodically menacing and mostly silent trio of Man in the Mask, Dollface and Pin-Up Girl we met in the first “Strangers” film are tormenting this innocent couple for seemingly no reason. In a pair of elegantly chilling sequences (the editing in this film is superb), Maya and Ryan fight for their lives against the needle-drop background of first “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues and later “The Best of Times” by Styx. You’ll never think of those classic rock tunes in the same way again.