"First-time writer-director Bryan Bertino's taut, spare thriller is plenty scary....Anchored by convincing performances from Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler....This is an enormously unsettling movie."
Los Angeles Times

"[S]pare, suspenseful and brilliantly invested in silence, Bryant Bertino's debut feature unfolds in a slow crescendo of intimidation..."
New York Times

3 stars out of 5 -- "This is undeniably effective suspense-horror, and Bertino stages quiet chills and short, sharp shocks with a technical expertise..."
Empire

"[T]he tension remains consistently high....It accrues a real power to frighten through small touches..."
Sight and Sound

4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his lean, very mean house-invasion thriller from first-time director Bryan Bertino doesn't put a foot wrong....THE STRANGERS is chillingly effective..."
Total Film