The following contains spoilers for The Strangers: Chapter 1, now playing in theaters

The Strangers: Chapter 1‘s killers share a dark motivation and thematic connection to the villainous trio from The Strangers: Chapter 1. The Strangers franchise has centered around three killers, informally known as the Man in the Mask, Dollface, and Pin-Up Girl. The three target, stalk and try to kill people that they come across, setting the films up to be tense thrillers.

Each of the films in the series has focused on a different target of the three killers, with The Strangers: Chapter 1‘s main characters being the otherwise innocent Maya and Ryan. Much of the film is spent on Maya and Ryan’s ultimately fruitless attempts to evade the killers, which ends with the pair of them stabbed by the killers. Before that happens though, a brief and unnerving beat reveals the motivation behind the attack. It’s strikingly similar to the motivation of the killers from the first film and connects it to The Strangers new trilogy, and plays into the thematic strengths of the series.

Why The Strangers: Chapter 1’s Killers Target Maya & Ryan

Maya And Ryan Were Just In The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time

Maya and Ryan are the targets of The Strangers: Chapter 1‘s killers for no true reason, which is consistent with the themes of the franchise and adds to the unsettling sense of existential dread baked into the film’s premise. Maya and Ryan end up in the killer’s crosshairs after their car breaks down in a remote town. Staying in an AirBnB for the night while the car’s repaired, Maya and Ryan end up stalked through the building by the Man in the Mask, Dollface, Pin-Up Girl. Throughout the film, the trio barely speak any dialogue, and have little clear motivation.

The trio of killers are largely silent, don’t build off any local legends, and seem to be enjoying themselves even when threatened with a gun. It’s only at the end of the film that Maya learns they were targeted because they were “there,” and were more or less attacked at random. The Killers then stab Maya and Ryan, leaving them for dead while they make their escape. The Strangers: Chapter 1 doesn’t delve into their identities or further motivations, fading to black after they escape. It was all chance, and that’s what makes it so scary.

How The Strangers: Chapter 1’s Killers Connect To The Original 2008 Movie

The Masked Killers Don’t Have A Secret Reason To Target Anyone Specific

This is very similar to the spoken motivation of the killers in The Strangers. The 2008 film starred Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as Kristen and James, a couple who find themselves stalked through a vacation home by three masked killers. That film also featured three killers wearing the same masks and acting similarly, ultimately leaving them for dead in a similar fashion. In that film, the motivation given by Dollface to Kisten and James is that they “were home,” suggesting the attack was a simple act of random cruelty.

This carries over to The Strangers: Chapter 1. While the film teases the potentially dangerous nature of citizens of the nearby town and implicitly casts a suspicious lens on all of them, none are truly suggested to be among the killers. The Killer’s attack on Maya and Ryan seems to have been motivated by a similar drive to commit violence, without true reason or cause. This was one of the most frightening elements of the original film, and it’s clearly a key element of the modern reimagining of the concept.

What The Strangers: Chapter 1 Reveals About The Masked Killers

The Killers Just Want To Hurt People

The Strangers: Chapter 1‘s killers are particularly frightening because of how mundane and random they are. The killers have no clear motivation beyond killing, and their lack of clear identities or motivation makes them even more frightening. They otherwise appear to be regular people. They could blend into crowds with ease, get lost in the shadows and never be seen. The masked killers are just that, with no supernatural drive or personal grudge to settle. They’re personifications of brutal violence, doled out against a couple that didn’t do anything to justify such a horrifying attack.

That’s what makes the terrifying masked killers of The Strangers franchise so frightening. There’s not even any clear indication that they’re meant to be the same characters, just similar killers. That unknown random quality of the killers makes them potentially anyone behind the masks. The Strangers: Chapter 1 deliberately refuses to delve into the origins or motives of the killers, instead treating them as twisted hunters with harsh hints of their humanity. The Strangers: Chapter 1 reinforces the central theme of the original film by showcasing how its killers are just