Life is Strange: Reunion is a full-circle moment for its stars | The VergeSkip to main contentThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.The VergeThe Verge logo.TechReviewsScienceEntertainmentAIPolicyHamburger Navigation ButtonThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.Hamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchTechExpandAmazonAppleFacebookGoogleMicrosoftSamsungBusinessSee all techReviewsExpandSmart Home ReviewsPhone ReviewsTablet ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsSee all reviewsScienceExpandSpaceEnergyEnvironmentHealthSee all scienceEntertainmentExpandTV ShowsMoviesAudioSee all entertainmentAIExpandOpenAIAnthropicSee all AIPolicyExpandAntitrustPoliticsLawSecuritySee all policyGadgetsExpandLaptopsPhonesTVsHeadphonesSpeakersWearablesSee all gadgetsVerge ShoppingExpandBuying GuidesDealsGift GuidesSee all shoppingGamingExpandXboxPlayStationNintendoSee all gamingStreamingExpandDisneyHBONetflixYouTubeCreatorsSee all streamingTransportationExpandElectric CarsAutonomous CarsRide-sharingScootersSee all transportationFeaturesVerge VideoExpandTikTokYouTubeInstagramPodcastsExpandDecoderThe VergecastVersion HistoryNewslettersArchivesStoreVerge Product UpdatesSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSThe VergeThe Verge logo.Life is Strange: Reunion is a full-circle moment for its starsComments DrawerCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...EntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentGamingCloseGamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GamingReportCloseReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReportLife is Strange: Reunion is a full-circle moment for its starsActors Rhianna DeVries and Hannah Telle talk about bringing the Max and Chloe saga to an end.Actors Rhianna DeVries and Hannah Telle talk about bringing the Max and Chloe saga to an end.by Tom ReganCloseTom ReganPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Tom ReganMar 24, 2026, 4:00 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: Square EnixFans thought they were done with the original Life is Strange duo of Max and Chloe. Following the first game and its 2017 prequel, players said their tearful goodbyes to these beloved characters — or so they thought. Following Max Caulfield’s abrupt return in 2024’s Double Exposure, this week sees the unlikely return of Chloe in Life is Strange: Reunion, an unexpected narrative retconning sequel that’s been greeted with more raised eyebrows than rapturous fervor. It aims to bring the Max and Chloe story to an end for good — and it was just as much of a shock to the actors as it was to fans.“It was a massive surprise,” says the voice of Chloe Price, Rhianna DeVries, on getting the call to audition again in 2023. “After we wrapped Before the Storm, I thought, ‘All right, she’s not coming back. I have to make my peace with that.” After Double Exposure laid the parallel-universe-hopping foundations for her return, Reunion sees Chloe Price sassing her way back onto the screen, defying death in one in-game timeline, and undoing the agonizingly made choice of millions of players in the process. DeVries tells me that they were just as shocked as fans were. “I couldn’t sit down for a week. I just couldn’t stop smiling,” DeVries beams. “I was ecstatic to get to play this character again.”The initial online reaction to Reunion, however, wasn’t quite as gushing. At the end of the first Life is Strange, players were faced with the agonizing choice of either saving Chloe’s life — and dooming her hometown in the process — or sacrificing Chloe in order to save everyone else. It was a dilemma that drove countless discussions over which was the most moral choice, giving passionate fans a sense of ownership over Chloe’s fate. The sceptical fan reaction to Chloe’s unsolicited return, then, is somewhat understandable. Yet after playing a couple of hours of Reunion, I’m pleasantly surprised by how well things have been handled.“I think that everybody involved in creating this game felt similarly: that this was something sacred and really formative to so many people,” explains Hannah Telle, the voice of Max Caulfield. “It was formative for myself and Rhianna and for the people who made this game as well. So I think that it was approached with love, care, and caution.”When it comes to the emotionally earnest Life is Strange series, authenticity has always been key to selling its characters, “hella” corny dialogue aside. First voicing a 16-year-old Chloe in Before the Storm while a teenager, as DeVries returned to the role at age 28, they were shocked to see Chloe’s unlikely resurrection one again mirror their own. “Two or three years after Before the Storm was released, I was in a car accident,” DeVries explains, “where I died in front of my family and my best friend.”“I think that it was approached with love, care, and caution.” With DeVries declared clinically dead, they were resuscitated under miraculous circumstances, leaving them confused and shaken. “When I was first told that Chloe will be navigating having memories of having died and having different timelines living inside of her psyche, I went, ‘That is crazy!’” DeVries says. “I think that the way that they’ve written Chloe and the way that Chloe navigates the story is honest and real — and I’m saying that as somebody that very much relates to what she’s going through.”It’s a statement that rings true as I play Reunion. Following the eyebrow-raising end of Double Exposure — whose parallel-universe-spanning antics paved the way for Chloe’s much-publicized return — I’m relieved to see the writers at Deck Nine took a more grounded approach to their initial reconciliation in Reunion. After she first meets Chloe, Max stays up all night sitting by Chloe’s side, terrified that she may disappear from her life yet again. It’s a far-fetched scenario that is written in such a way as to make the implausible seem plausible, with naturalistic dialogue options exploring both the timelines where Chloe died and where she survived, cleverly honoring previous player choices. “What the writers have done is truly a demonstration of mastery and skill,” says DeVries.Image: Square EnixAs both actors prepared to revisit their iconic characters, it wasn’t just DeVries who had returned to Life is Strange as a different person. Where Telle initially provided just the voice for Max Caulfield, this time around she also found herself performing Max’s motion capture. Yet trying as she might to match the physicality of Caulfield from the first game, Telle suddenly found her body failing to cooperate.Telle didn’t realize until after she wrapped shooting, but she would later be diagnosed with scoliosis, a condition that causes an unusual curvature in the spine. “I didn’t know why at the time, but I just couldn’t get my body to look exactly like I needed Max’s to look from the previous footage of her,” Telle explains. “Every time we would do a scene, I would have to just stand there and wait on the volume while everyone was behind the desk muttering, ‘Why is her arm sticking out like that?” She adds, “It was a mental exercise in staying calm and accepting criticism about something that I was born with, something that I have to become able to morph through and evolve out of. It was a challenge, and I’m still in back therapy.”With Chloe and Max spawning countless fan art — and an upcoming live-action TV adaptation on Amazon — both Telle and DeVries’ lives have been changed by inhabiting these characters. How the full story of Reunion plays out remains to be seen. Yet if there’s one thing that’s undoubtedly authentic about Max and Chloe’s surprise 2026 swan song, it’s the two central performances behind it, which, for one last time, are bringing this beloved duo back to life.“I think so highly of Max,” says Telle. “And I am so grateful for this closure … and to have been able to be a part of her story in this intimate, profound, and beautiful way.”Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Tom ReganCloseTom ReganPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Tom ReganEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentGamingCloseGamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GamingInterviewCloseInterviewPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All InterviewReportCloseReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReportMost PopularMost PopularNvidia CEO Jensen Huang says ‘I think we’ve achieved AGI’The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the USDonut Lab’s solid-state battery could barely hold a charge after getting damagedConfronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated meVideoSome writing advice from Project Hail Mary’s Andy WeirThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. 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Life is Strange: Reunion presents a complex and somewhat surprising narrative conclusion to the widely beloved Max and Chloe storyline, orchestrated by Deck Nine. The central premise involves a full-circle return of Rhianna DeVries and Hannah Telle as Max and Chloe, respectively, following a series of events that began with the original game and its prequel, *Before the Storm*. The surprising nature of this reunion, initiated by a callback to Double Exposure, quickly became a subject of considerable online discussion and, initially, skepticism amongst fans. The core of the narrative centers around Chloe Price’s improbable return to life, defying the established timelines and choices made by players in the first game, mirroring DeVries' own near-death experience. This return immediately triggers a wave of reactions, characterized by a mix of shock and, eventually, a more considered appreciation for the developers’ handling of the situation.

The development team, recognizing the significance of the original game’s emotional impact and the player investment in Chloe’s fate, approached the project with a deliberate sense of reverence and caution. Hannah Telle specifically highlighted this, stating that the team felt a responsibility to address the story with "love, care, and caution," a sentiment echoed by DeVries. The team’s efforts address the inherent contradictions and uncertainties present within the storyline’s parallel-universe mechanics, striving to honor the established canon while introducing new layers of complexity. The writing attempts to grapple with the implications of a resurrected Chloe, navigating a persistent sense of instability and memory, acknowledging the player’s previous choices.

A notable element of the narrative’s evolution is the incorporation of Telle’s personal experience; she was diagnosed with scoliosis after undertaking the motion capture work for Max Caulfield. This condition – and the resulting challenges she faced in replicating Max’s physicality – introduced an unexpected layer of authenticity to the performance, forcing her to confront and adapt to a physical limitation while simultaneously embodying the character. This element was clearly a critical and challenging experience for Telle, and one which added a deeper emotional understanding of Max’s struggle for acceptance and self-image.

The narrative focuses on a reconciliation between the two protagonists, marked by a measured and nuanced approach to rebuilding their relationship, acknowledging the past actions and consequences that underpin their dynamic. The writing makes a conscious effort to lean into the awkward and corny dialogue that became a hallmark of the series, while simultaneously delivering moments of genuine emotional depth and vulnerability. Notably, the developers carefully revisit and re-engage with the core choices presented in the original *Life is Strange*, acknowledging the player’s previous decisions and ensuring that every choice made in *Reunion* has consequence. The story cleverly interweaves timelines where Chloe survived and those where she perished, seamlessly blending the known narrative with the unexpected return of Chloe Price, and simultaneously honoring the player’s journey and the impact that their choices had. Ultimately, *Life is Strange: Reunion* feels like a deliberate and thoughtful attempt to provide closure to a legacy series, carefully integrating the actors’ personal experiences and embracing the series’ unique blend of melodrama and suspense.