I Will Never Get Over How Foolish Ryan Is In The Strangers: Chapter 1

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Strangers: Chapter 1!

Summary Ryan had multiple chances to get the upper hand in The Strangers: Chapter 1.

The first installment of Renny Harlin's The Strangers trilogy frustratingly leaned into horror victim tropes, leading to Ryan and Maya's capture.

Maya still has hope to redeem herself in The Strangers: Chapter 2 and potentially become a survivor worth rooting for.

Characters in horror movies don't always make the most intelligent decisions, but I found it very difficult to witness Ryan's consistent foolishness throughout The Strangers: Chapter 1. The first installment of Renny Harlin's Strangers trilogy had the arduous task of rebooting the franchise. While I understand The Strangers: Chapter 1 wasn't billed as a direct reboot or remake, it was surprising to see the new movie rehash the 2008 original film, which has become the basis of most of the new movie's criticism. However, I consider Ryan's decision-making to also be a key reason Chapter 1 couldn't meet its potential.

The Strangers: Chapter 1's cast list was led by Froy Gutierrez (Ryan) and Madelaine Petsch (Maya), a couple forced to stay in a small Oregon town where they quickly encountered The Strangers' three masked killers. You'd think this new trilogy would launch the franchise in a new direction. Instead, it mostly followed the formula of Bryan Bertino's movie. By The Strangers: Chapter 1's ending, Ryan and Maya were captured and seemingly stabbed to death until Maya was revealed alive in Chapter 1's credits scene. Granted, I couldn't let go of the fact that Ryan could have changed the outcome...on several occasions.

Related The Strangers: Chapter 1 Credit Scene Sets Up Future That Mirrors A Horror Trilogy From Over 40 Years Ago The Strangers: Chapter 1's mid-credits scene sets up a sequel plot that would borrow from one of the most iconic slasher franchises in cinema history.

Ryan Had Not One But TWO Chances To Get The Upper Hand In The Strangers: Chapter 1

Ryan Had Several Opportunities To Change The Movie's Outcome

I admit it's much easier to criticize a character when not in the actual situation of, y'know, facing a trio of masked killers. That said, decades of obsessing over horror movies have resulted in some pretty intense character critiques. In particular, my love of slashers - and firm belief in Randy's rules of survival from Scream - mean it's nearly impossible to avoid thinking about how characters could've avoided their fates. There's also a (slightly) worrying conviction that I could definitely survive in the same scenarios. So it was really frustrating to watch Ryan miss multiple chances at getting the upper hand on the killers in The Strangers: Chapter 1.

Let's look at the first massive misstep. After Ryan and Maya attempted to escape in the homeowner's care, the Man in the Mask, aka Scarecrow, T-boned their car into a tree. Maya fled, and Ryan managed to escape the wreckage. I then had to physically stop myself from yelling at the movie theater screen as Ryan hobbled by the Man in the Mask's empty truck. With a shotgun in hand, Ryan foolishly missed a chance at stealing the truck as a way to find Maya or potentially leave to get help. The car was still running, for goodness' sake!

If that weren't enough, Ryan then walked through the woods to find Maya, where he encountered Pin-Up Girl. In this scene, some moviegoers in my theater actually shouted at the screen. Look, I'm all for theater etiquette, but I fully supported the viewer reaction in this case. Ryan had one of the killers at gunpoint, but rather than make a move, Ryan's hesitation allowed the Man in the Mask to take back control yet again. And the killer likely wouldn't have caught up to his location if he hadn't made so much noise in the quiet woods.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 Frustratingly Leaned Into Horror Victim Tropes

Ryan & Maya Weren't Given Much Of A Chance In Chapter 1

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The Strangers: Chapter 1 took one of the most questionable decisions from the original movie and made it even more frustrating

Considering how closely The Strangers: Chapter 1 followed the 2008 movie, you could assume the film would end similarly. Still, there was hope Ryan and Maya would have joined the new generation of potential horror victims who admirably fight back or use their wits to outsmart their terrorizers. Rather than present characters I wanted to root for, The Strangers: Chapter 1's characters fell into common horror victim tropes, allowing Ryan and Maya to fall right into the killers' hands.

I totally get that slasher movies need to rely on that cat-and-mouse chase to build the suspense. But having your protagonists tripping over themselves, dropping potentially lifesaving medical devices out of their pockets, and forcing the characters to split up was frustrating on top of the mistakes Ryan directly made. After escaping through the crawl space, which I admit was one of The Strangers: Chapter 1's highlights, the pair elected to go to the nearby shed rather than get as far away from the killers as possible.

You could say Ryan's fate was probably sealed by then. In fact, you could probably say that guy was doomed the moment he stepped foot in the Oregon diner. But even after a mysterious stranger came knocking on their door, Ryan had no qualms about leaving Maya behind while a mysterious woman was lurking around the home in the middle of nowhere. The Strangers: Chapter 1 took one of the most questionable decisions from the original movie and made it even more frustrating, instantly proving Ryan's intuitions weren't the greatest.

Related Every The Strangers Movie, Ranked Worst To Best With the release of The Strangers: Chapter 1, it's worth taking a look at all three films in the horror franchise to see how they rank.

How Maya Can Fix Ryan's Big Mistakes In The Strangers' Sequels

There's Still Hope For Madelaine Petsch's Character

Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore

While I may never get over Ryan's painstakingly bad decisions in The Strangers: Chapter 1, Maya wasn't doing much to increase their survival chances either. Petsch's character could be inherently getting more support thanks to her Riverdale popularity, but more importantly, she still has more chances to prove the doubters wrong. Whereas Ryan missed his shot (literally) at taking down the killers, Maya will be the lead in The Strangers: Chapter 2's story and potentially the last installment of the trilogy. My point is that Maya will have more opportunities to redeem herself as a survivor.

Will Maya become an iconic Final Girl among the likes of Laurie Strode and Sidney Prescott? Probably not. But there's no reason Petsch's character couldn't join the impressively growing list of women in horror who battle through and defeat their attackers. Despite my frustrations with Chapter 1, I still remain curious about where The Strangers trilogy will take Maya's story. Hopefully, some essential character growth will propel Maya, shaping her into a protagonist who could make up for the character shortcomings in The Strangers: Chapter 1.