First Trailer Drops for ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2′: The Masked Killers Haven’t Finished What They Started
Madelaine Petsch is back as Maya in The Strangers: Chapter 2, and this time, the horror follows her straight to the hospital. Even though she survived the terrifying events of the first movie, it’s clear from the new trailer that she’s not safe yet. The masked killers haven’t finished what they started.
The movie hits theaters on September 26, 2025, and it picks up right after the first chapter. Maya, still shaken from the brutal cabin attack, ends up in a hospital, but instead of finding peace, she’s dragged into more terror.
Fans of old-school slashers might notice the similarity to Halloween II, where Laurie Strode found herself hunted again in a hospital. Same kind of energy here.
Face the town or become its next story. 🔪 Watch the new trailer for #TheStrangersMovie – Chapter 2. In theaters September 26. pic.twitter.com/9wZPKZQzzC
— THE STRANGERS – Chapter 2 (@strangers_film) June 24, 2025
The Strangers: Chapter 2 is directed by Renny Harlin, known for A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. This is the second part of his new Strangers trilogy, which reboots the 2008 home invasion horror classic. Harlin actually filmed all three chapters back-to-back in 2022 in Slovakia. At first, the plan was to release all of them in the same year, but things changed along the way. Now, Chapter 2 is set for this fall, and there’s no date yet for the third part.
The cast includes Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, and Ema Horvath. Petsch plays Maya, the only one who made it out alive in Chapter 1. Basso plays Gregory, and Horvath appears as a friendly waitress named Shelly.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly back in 2023, Harlin said that while the first movie in the trilogy stuck pretty close to the original 2008 film, the sequels were going to dig deeper. “I wanted to explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?” he explained.
But after watching the trailer, it looks like maybe we won’t get all the answers. And maybe that’s the point. “There really doesn’t have to be a ‘why’—after all, isn’t it scarier that way?” the trailer hints.
The new chapter was originally supposed to come out in late 2024, but it ended up taking over the release date that had been set for Saw XI, which is no longer happening.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 is the fourth movie in the overall Strangers series and the second in this new trilogy. The story follows Maya for four days after her first encounter with the killers. According to Harlin, both Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 take the story in a new direction.
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