Madelaine Petsch, who plays protagonist Maya Lucas in the recent trilogy of Strangers movies, recently detailed what she thought of the surprising ending of Chapter 3. The Strangers – Chapter 1 came out in 2024, Chapter 2 in 2025, and Chapter 3 on February 6, 2026. These three films make up a standalone trilogy set within the Strangers universe. Previously, The Strangers, featuring Liv Tyler, debuted in the US theaters in 2008, followed by its sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night, in 2018.
Madelaine Petsch talks about the ending of The Strangers – Chapter 3
Petsch discussed the ending of The Strangers – Chapter 3 during a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. In the climactic moments of the movie, Maya and Gabriel Basso’s Gregory / Scarecrow have their final confrontation. Maya embraces Gregory, making the audience wonder if the movie will take an unexpected turn and show a romance between them. However, it turns out to be part of a plan on Maya’s part. She kills Gregory and leaves with his mask.
When asked if she thinks Gregory has transformed Maya, Petsch replied, “Yes, and audiences can [further] take away from the final shot that he was successful.” The actress proceeded to observe that the ending is open to interpretation.
“That was improvisation on my part,” the Sightless star elaborated. “I said, ‘Can we do one where I’m holding the mask? I just feel like I want to be [holding it]. That feels right for her.’ So she unfolds it, and then we ended up using that in the final edit. To me, as the artist, it feels so much more aligned with where she’s at and her new lack of humanity that she would go in that direction. But I could see arguments for both. We didn’t make that decision when we shot it.”
Petsch also stated that she doesn’t know what’s next for Maya, prompting audiences to come up with those answers.
The Strangers – Chapter 3 is currently in theaters.
Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on ComingSoon.
