Return to Silent Hill (2026) | Film Rantview

Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers pertaining to plot points, character decisions, for both Return to Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2.

Disclaimer: Crass language used throughout.

Prologue

"In my restless dreams, I see that town. Silent Hill. You promised to take me there again someday. But you never did. Well, I'm alone there now. In our special place. Waiting for you to come and see me. But you never do. So, I wait. Wrapped in my cocoon of pain and loneliness." - Mary

Return to Silent Hill (2026, Gans), was not only our return to the nightmarish, baron town of Silent Hill, but also my return to the cinema. For too long I'd put off attending the auditorium of dreams, the showcase of imagination, the cesspool of mediocrity. Upon seeing the trailer for Gans' most recent outing, I'd decided to put on my big boy pants and sit in a room full of strangers (there were only 6 people in the room) and watch a (loose) adaptation of one of my favourite horror games, the GOAT if you will, Konami's Silent Hill 2 (2001, Tsuboyama).

Needless to say, I should have stayed home. Surprise, surprise. 'The Man Who Hates Everything' (MWHE) hated a film. However, if you'll indulge me, I'd like to take the opportunity to explain why.

On the drive back from the cinema, wondering how Adam would review this film, I'd thought perhaps a collaborative effort, combining Adam's knowledge only of the cinematic universe of Silent Hill, with my own knowledge of the games. That could work nicely - perhaps a comparison? No, fidelity is a tired subject. But, surely fidelity would play a big part in what makes the film a failure? Although a big part, the standalone film has numerous faults. How is Adam going to do this?

"Well, I'm gonna leave the review to you, because I've no fucking idea what I just watched." - Adam.

For over 30 minutes, I denied my own fate. But now is the end of days, and I am the Reaper.

Chapter I: The Road to Return

After the financial success of the original Silent Hill (2006, Gans), Gans & Avary were set to reprise their roles and continue the franchise as early as 2007. However, due to outside complications and departures, this was not meant to be and the franchise seemed dead in the water.

But surely there was money still to be made from such a lucrative intellectual property? Logically, a direct sequel to the successful original outing in 2006 would make financial sense for any studio?

From the ashes of development hell, announcements were made that a sequel had found its director and would commence production in early 2011, with a release scheduled for the following year.

A sequel, six long years in the making.

A sequel, anticipated by both game & film fans.

A sequel, based loosely on Silent Hill 3 (2003, Nakazawa)

A sequel, that would take us back to Silent Hill.

Silent Hill: Revelation (2012, Bassett).

As quick a turnaround as the production had, the downfall - through negative reception (caveat, not just from me) - for Silent Hill: Revelation was swift and merciless. The faults were not exclusively due to underdelivering on Bassett's initial promise, that the film would be the closest game-to-film adaptation whilst including lore established in the original film. Nor, was it due to skipping Silent Hill 2 altogether (albeit, a less logical successor to the original film and suited more to be a standalone entry). The film, in isolation, didn't carry the weight of its own - nonsensical - narrative, combining surreal elements from multiple games, without rhyme nor reason, and Gans' original questionable additions to make an overall mix-mash shambles of a product.

And that's before mentioning laughable spider mannequins and poor special effects (foreshadowing...).

Admittedly, some of my personal dislikes of the original Silent Hill film and considerably within Silent Hill: Revelation, stem from the liberties embedded into the story by Gans, combined with a general misunderstanding of relevancy for certain events, or characters, that occur / appear in the games. But, I'd chalked that up to a general like-for-like adaptation being fiscally impractical on a lower budget and much of the implied nuances becoming lost in translation for a non-gaming audience. Not dissimilar to many criticisms voiced for another game-to-film franchise, Resident Evil (1996-present), (2002-2017), (2021).

After the release, the hills went silent once more. They lay dorment, waiting for another opportunity to breach through and sound the siren again.

In mid-2020, it had been reported that Gans had announced work on a new entry to the film series and by 2023, principal photography had commenced. It was later revealed that Gans had personally sourced financial backing for a return to the franchise and the film was budgeted to be approximately $23 million - $3m more than Revelation, but considerably less than the original film ($50 million).

This new instalment would take inspiration, again, from the franchise, with what was described to be a more faithful adaptation. The inspiration would be taken from a singular entry from the game series. One wrought with grotesque subtlety, deep and complicated characters and with a wealth of content to manipulate and digest - Silent Hill: Downpour (2012, Pang). I mean, Silent Hill 2.

What could possibly go wrong?

Chapter II: The Car Crash

Return to Silent Hill follows lone, depressed protagonist, James Sunderland (Jeremy Irvine), as he travels back to Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his long-dead girl friend, Mary Crane (Hannah Emily Anderson). Convinced of the letter's legitimacy, James begins a journey of exploration, travelling fog-filled streets of the city and surviving threats from our world and the Otherworld.

The film, as a whole, is a questionable, nonsensical mess. Once again, we're force-fed the mix-match, bipolar presentation of set-pieces, characters and events from the game forcibly sandwiched amongst Gans' bullshit storytelling. Combined with the over reliance of flashbacks, further flashbacks, flash sideways and Flash Gordons, what should be a relatively easy narrative to follow - albeit, with a respectable splash of ambiguity - the film throws pointless scene after scene at the audience.

It fails to decide whether we should slow down and spend time at specific points of interest, or be launched into the next scene via teleportation, abridged by yet another pointless flashback.

The film is very much, a 'film of two halves', spending unequal time with James, as he traverses Silent Hill's many dangerous environments (as witnessed in the game), or with James, as he discovers that Mary was abused by a cult in Silent Hill that gradually made her terminally unwell (as not witnessed in the game).

Adam: What was the bullshit to do with the cult? Mike: Dunno. A cult was hinted at in the game, but had nothing to do with Mary, or James. Adam: What were the cult doing to Mary? Mike: Fuck knows, wasn't in the game.

The cult addition to Return to Silent Hill was very much Gans' way to relate back to the original film. However, the fire started in Silent Hill in the 1970s (according to the original film), but we see a very much... unburned(?)... unburnt(?)... non-decimated(?)... version of Silent Hill, through the flashback scenes. But, Mary was hospitalised in 2017, in a perfectly acceptable Silent Hill, according to the toxicology, medical records.

Is it the same Silent Hill? Surely it is, it has locations from the previous film on the map, same signposting, same Brookhaven Hospital (despite the original game being Alchemillia Hospital). But the timeline doesn't fit with the original. So, what was the point in linking things with the cult mentality? Why did it take up over half of the runtime? And why were decision made to change crucial information that ultimately change the foundation of everything?

Adam: What was the point? Mike: There wasn't one. The game had a point and they immediately removed that by retconning and essentially rendering everything pointless.

Despite my considerable aversion to the inclusion of the cult plot (it's not a subplot, as it takes up the majority of the film), there are two greater egregious changes that render the entire film moot.

In the film, James had abandoned Mary to her fate with the cult, leading to a laughable scene designed to emit emotion for characters we're barely attached to upon them reuniting at her hospital bed. Mary requests James to mercy kill her, to end her suffering. End the suffering of the woman he has been in a relationship for as long as a cup of coffee and left, due to overbearing members of a cult driving a wedge between them.

True love, folks.

Tearful, James reluctantly obliged, using a wet towel he'd fetched to clean her bleeding nose with to smother her. Thus, sealing his fate to traverse Silent Hill to find her again and seek... forgiveness?

This change ultimately renders all of the manifesting enemies, associated with James, incorrect. From design and performance, their representations become nonsensical. Creatures, such as the lying figures, mannequinns and nurses lose their meaning and become but another, 'this was in the game, so it's here'. The exact same way that Pyramid Head - an enemy known for association with James' manifestations - appearing in the original film.

Not only James' manifestations, other character's symbology is lost and loosely connected to better facilitate Gans' bastardised inclusion of the cult. That leads me into the next egregious alteration:

Mary's full name, is MARY ANGELA LAURA CRANE.

Although I shan't delve into the lore established from the game in this section, Angela (Also, Hannah Emily Anderson) & Laura (Evie Templeton), are very much independent characters, separate from James' manifestations. However, within the lore of the film, it had been decided to combine these character into James' delusion, rendering yet another manifestation utterly confusing. The grotesque and abhorrent Abstract Daddy.

Despite sounding like a toxic fan from the gaming side of the base, these changes in isolation also make for a confusing and frustrating experience for an unknowing film audience.

Adam: So, why did she get pulled into the bed? Mike: Dunno. Didn't really have much point. Adam: Did it happen in the game? Mike: The Abstract Daddy was in the game, along with Angela, but there was a reason for its appearance and what it meant to Angela independently. Adam: So what the fuck was that about?!

Return to Silent Hill (2026) | Film Rantview

Drastic changes aside, the characters were considerably underutilised (or fucking combined nonsensically), disengaging the viewer to events in the film. Like Pyramid Head in the original film, characters such as Eddie (Pearse Egan), and even Angela & Laura, were merely introduced - almost identically to how the film treats locations - as a Leonardo DiCaprio moment, for fans to point and click at the screen, like good obeying consumers.

Eddie appeared, as he did in the game, throwing up in the toilet. Then some dialogue happened. Then Laura appeared. Then the siren aired. Then Eddie started wailing on James - for reasons, I know not why - then Eddie ran away.

Fucking riveting character, so glad that was the only scene we see him in because developing him, or having any sort of rationale behind his presence would have been far too much for me to understand. Give me more flashbacks instead! Give me more cult! Throw in a splash of what-the-fuck is going ons, I can take it!

---

The acting was mediocre at best. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some of the cast in other productions and they're decent to watch, but unfortunately their performance in Return to Silent Hill is what happens when you allow a narcissist to direct.

"If I have the opportunity, we'll come back to Silent Hill once more." - Christophe Gans, Variety

Please don't.

---

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to take a quick break from the review - like an unnecessary flashback - to acknowledge that there are members within the Silent Hill community, so-called 'fans' of the franchise, that have engaged in sending death-threats to Christophe Gans, since the initial release of Return to Silent Hill. I think we can all agree, there is no place in modern society for this type of

unwarranted and generally toxic behaviour.

We all have the right to moan and complain (and I certainly will) about perceived mishandlings of intellectual properties we enjoy and follow, but there are limits to expressing this passion. So, to those that did / do engage in that type of behaviour, you have my sincerest sympathies due to general unhappiness and less-than-average appendage lengths.

Have a good scrub, give your head a wobble and get on with your fucking day.

Much Love, Mikey-poos.

P.S. If you were offended by what I just said, you're the problem.

---

The film had moments of decent spectacle, specific uses of cinematography that elevated some scenes and set themselves apart from the rest of the shit-show. I'll credit that to Pablo Russo, as Gans shouldn't be a recipient of anything positive. Of course, these shots and movements were undercut by the overuse of SFX screens and generally poor special effects throughout.

Some set-pieces were enjoyable and some of the replicated moments from the games were present, but pointless. Not even music composed by Akira Yamaoke could save these scenes.

There was a big booty mannequinn spider-thingy with cheek jiggle physics that was (sexually) confusing, but otherwise pointless. There was also the blatant revelation that Pyramid Head is a piece of James' manifestation, but subtlety wasn't this films forte, so that was like hitting a nail with a sledgehammer... so, a bit pointless. Lying Figures, Nurses, Abstract Daddy, Big Booty Mannequin Spider-Thingy, Flesh Lip, Moth Mary the cult storyline, the psychiatrist storyline (reminiscent of Shattered Memories), Eddie, Angela, Laura, Mary, Maria (didn't even talk about her, but there isn't much point) and James were all pretty pointless.

As you can tell, I've given up the review and reverted to listing the things that appeared, but were pointless.

The film ended three times. Once with Moth Mary embracing James and forgiving him for... whatever. Then it ended again, similar to the In Water ending in the games for... reasons. Then it ended again, setting up a loop signifying James & Mary will live happily ever after away from the cult / Silent Hill because...

All-in-all, the film is an utter fucking chore to watch and almost unwatchable from both a comparative stance and a isolated experience. It's a sour way to start 2026, but what do we expect when all the shit is shovelled in January.

2/10, and I'm being generous.

Chapter III: The Breakdown

(Emotional & Physical)

I'd debated including this section, but feel it would be a disservice to those looking for rationale, or logic behind the film and haven't / don't play video games.

Silent Hill 2 is a fantastic horror game from 2002, following James Sunderland as he embarks on a journey to Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his wife, Mary. Mary had died of an illness - believed to be 3 years prior - and in James' depression, had hoped he'd find her once again in the town of Silent Hill. The journey becomes gradually more hopeless and pushes the feeling of failure progressing from one area to the next.

Along his journey, James encounters few characters, such as Angela, Eddie, Laura and Maria. The latter being an almost identical physical representation of Mary, but with a more sexualised demeanour and appearance.

With just the three listed below, you will identify that each character is complicated, yet complementary for James' journey and each have a secret - or more appropriately - they have an intimate truth they're refusing to accept. These truths gradually surface through the game as each character is confronted by personal manifestations, developed to torture them mentally and / or physically.

James

"I was weak. That's why I needed you... needed someone to punish me for my sins... but that's all over now... I know the truth. Now it's time to end this." - James, In Water ending.

James, our protagonist, is beckoned to Silent Hill via a letter from Mary - whom is 'established' to have died 3 years ago. Wrought with grief, he begins his journey through the many locations in Silent Hill. Encountering creatures, such as Lying Figures (skin-wrapped feminine bodies that spit acidic liquid from an orifice from their chest), Mannequinns (usually represented with feminine formed legs attached to other legs), nurses (overtly sexualised, faceless feminine nurses), as well as representations of Mary; Flesh Lip (hanging from the ceiling in a bedframe), Moth-Mary (encountered at the end of the game, again, in bedframe) and Maria.

Maria is the only human manifestation within the game, representing James' sexual resentment for Mary. She is killed by Pyramid Head, however, this is not commanded by James as seen in the film.

James' truth, is that their relationship had gradually degraded over 3 years, with Mary's hospitalisation and James' weakness to support her through her emotions. Abandoning her for periods at a time and being unable to deal with the varied emotions, a far cry from the James we experience, playing the game. In a moment of release, James made the decision to smother Mary no more than a couple of days before the start of the game, to rid himself of her budren and free himself. It is this selfish, murderous decision that has lead to the hyper-sexualised manifestations and guilt-ridden torment of Silent Hill, along his quest for forgiveness.

Games build a bond between player and playable character, as we experience their experiences through the process. Silent Hill is designed to set the player up for the feeling of betrayal upon James' acceptance of the real truth and the premise of our journey revealed to be false pretences.

Angela

"No, don't pity me. I'm not worth it. Or maybe, you think you can save me. Will you love me? Take care of me? Heal all my pain? That's what I thought." - Angela, on the burning staircase, Silent Hill 2

On the surface, Angela is a traumatised character and has entered Silent Hill after receiving a letter from her mother. We're introduced to her on the outskirts of Silent Hill, in a graveyard, whilst she looks for missing family members. As the game progresses, we meet Angela again, this time in the mirror room (seen in the film) with a knife in hand. Later, we find her again and leads to the altercation with the Abstract Daddy and the burning staircase moment.

Each time, Angela is in a different state of trauma-induced depression. The mirror room is a pinnacle moment whereby James, moral headed, manages to convince her to release her knife and avoid her suicide. Her main obstacle in Silent Hill, is the Abstract Daddy, a creature shaped like a bed frame, with two forms simulating intercourse under a blackened sheet. The room is skin-like, with pulsating metal cylinders entering & exiting small orifices in the walls.

The truth to accept, is that after years of physical and mental abuse from her father, she had killed him. However, another truth is realised on the burning stairs. The mother, she so dedicatedly came to find, was as destructive to her being as her father. Leaving her with the only control she feels she has, to take her own life.

Angela's fate is one that can be attributed to certain endings experienced within the game for James, one of self-ending proportion.

Eddie

"This town called to you, too. You and me are the same. We're not like other people, don't you know that?" Eddie, close to his demise, Silent Hill 2.

Different to all other characters met, Eddie isn't searching for someone. He is instead running from real-life, due to trauma developed from consistent bullying. Upon first meeting Eddie, he appears weak and pathetic, a typical joke fat character afraid of his own shadow. Eddie asks James if he'd like to team up to find a way out of the town, but is refuted, as James is searching for Mary. Another chance meeting with Eddie occurs in a bowling alley / cinema (dependent on original or remake), where he is bullied by Laura and comfort eating. He appears colder and more resentful of James.

One of the final times we see Eddie, he has murdered a pursuer, asserting dominance over their corpse and threatening James upon arrival. Eddie uses similar verbiage that would have been aimed at him, calling James 'fat' and 'stupid'. In this moment, he has become nihilistic and uses that frustration to escape victimhood and present a negatively powerful, more vengeful version of himself.

Eddie's truth comes from the torture of one of his bullies' dog and inflicting pain on the bully for catharsis. Accepting this oppressing pessimism and gradually evolving, allowing the unresolved trauma to drown him with hate and eventually become a killer, before dying by James' hands - a reflection of James' own past experience and potential fate.

Epilogue

Where Return to Silent Hill fails the most, is understanding ambiguity to support symbology / meaning, not for the sake of confusion. The film throws everything at the wall and inserts a fan-theory to fill in perceived blanks where very few are available. It comes from a place of misunderstanding the material. The film is a showcase of substance and a complete avoidance of subtlety.

The wonderful world of Silent Hill is open to interpretation. My readings of characters symbolism / readings may differ from the next player, or film viewer and that's fantastic. The series is built on ambiguity to be dissected and subtleties that repeat-playthroughs or viewings shed light upon.

Some believe that the experiences within Silent Hill are character building, or confronting ones own insecurities to overcome. Others, believe it to be the opposite, a depraved region of oppressive negativity with the only ambition to break the individual.

And that's the beauty, neither are wrong.

Christophe Gans is, though.

"Well, this review has gone too long. So I'll say goodbye. I told the nurse (Adam) to give this to all to you after I'm done. Which means that, as you're reading this, I'm already drunk. But that's okay. I'm not angry about it anymore. I just hope the memory of Return to Silent Hill will fade soon. So that yu remember me for who I was. And not what the film made me." - Mike... Mary... Or Maria... One of them.