People are Strangers, when Eleanor is Great (CREDIT: Sony Pictures Classics/Screenshot; Lionsgate)

Eleanor the Great

Starring: June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht, Rita Zohar, Will Price

Director: Scarlett Johansson

Running Time: 98 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: September 26, 2025 (Theaters)

The Strangers – Chapter 2

Starring: Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, Rachel Shenton

Director: Renny Harlin

Running Time: 98 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 26, 2025 (Theaters)

Sometimes when I watch two very different movies in quick succession, I like to ask which one of them feels more like home. First up we have Eleanor the Great, in which June Squibb plays a woman who moves in with her daughter and grandson and then befriends a young journalism student in the course of pretending that her recently deceased friend’s experience of surviving the Holocaust is her own story. Meanwhile, The Strangers – Chapter 2 (which is of course the fourth film in the Strangers franchise) is just the latest misadventure of masked killers delivering their lethal blows to ostensibly random targets.

By pretty much any metric I could imagine myself using, Eleanor is the better movie. But when it comes to delivering that cozy, “I’m home” feeling, it’s important to note that horror is my favorite genre. And it is autumn, after all. However, Random Killing isn’t exactly my favorite subgenre. However however, this Strangers once again stars Madelaine Petsch, a very familiar face to me from her time as a regular on Riverdale. Eleanor isn’t giving me that same sort of tension, but that doesn’t mean it’s the obvious answer to the question I’m asking. So I guess I’ll have to by gut instinct. And the truth is, the movie that had me feeling “This feels right” just a little bit more was… The Strangers – Chapter 2. Welcome home, Tamara!

Grades:
Eleanor the Great: Worth Listening To
The Strangers – Chapter 2: The Best Part is Boar-ing