By George & Josh Bate
Aligned with the 25th anniversary of Silent Hill 2, a feature film adaptation of Konami’s acclaimed video game arrives. The game was revolutionary, to say the least. Leaning on David Lynch and Andrew Wyeth-inspired aesthetics and telling a profound story of grief, guilt, and lost love, Silent Hill 2 quickly established itself as of the best video games of all time and continues to be referred to in arguments about the artistic value of video games. In 2024, Silent Hill 2 was remade, earning widespread critical acclaim and introducing a whole new generation of gamers to Silent Hill. Capitalizing on the franchise’s resurgence in popularity is Return to Silent Hill, a faithful feature film adaptation of Silent Hill 2 that perfectly captures the feel of the video game but struggles to translate a thematically rich and abstract narrative to a new medium.
Return to Silent Hill stars Jeremy Irvine (War Horse, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) as James Sunderland, a man devastated by the separation from his partner Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson). When he receives a letter from Mary urging him to return to the mysterious town of Silent Hill, James embarks on a journey to a town radically different than the one he once knew, now occupied by terrifying creatures and malevolent forces.
Watching Return to Silent Hill, it becomes clear that long gone are the days in which video game adaptations could get away with unfaithfully adapting their source material and capitalizing on a brand name alone. The new film from director Christophe Gans, returning to the world of Silent Hill after directing the initial video game adaptation of the game 20 years ago, has far more in common with HBO’s The Last of Us series and Netflix’s Arcane: League of Legends than it does Wes Boll’s House of the Dead or Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil in terms of adhering to the themes, aesthetic, and narrative of the beloved video games it’s based on. Anyone who has played Silent Hill 2 or its 2024 remake will immediately appreciate the filmmaking team’s extensive attempts to replicate the atmosphere and settings of the game. There are shots and entire sequences that seem as if they’ve been taken right out of the video game and edited into a feature film. From creature design (both practical and CGI to bring Pyramid Head and Armless to life respectively) to production design and beyond, Return to Silent Hill remarkably nails what it feels like to play a Silent Hill video game.
While flawlessly recreating the feel of a Silent Hill video game, Return to Silent Hill errs in its translation of its source material’s story. Gans’ film unfolds nonlinearly, with flashbacks scattered throughout providing insight into what James and Mary’s life in Silent Hill looked like before everything went wrong and they separated. The problem is that the film doesn’t explain exactly what went wrong, leaving numerous questions for the audience to ponder over. Rather than intrigue, these questions frustrate as it feels like the viewer is constantly playing catch-up to understand the context for our lead character. As a result, investment in Jeremy Irvine’s becomes difficult in that it’s hard to fully empathize with his experience if there are so many gaps in what we know, a flaw made all the worse by a rather stiff turn from Irvine.
Much like the game, Return to Silent Hill delves into increasingly reality-bending territory as the story progresses. Without a sturdy foundation to kick the narrative off, however, the leaning into the abstract just adds to the confusion. Scenes begin to appear out of order. Seemingly important events that occur are perplexingly ignored in the next scene. And all sorts of strange happenings occur around James, including the appearance of a woman who looks exactly like his lost love, that don’t raise anywhere near the level of concern or perplexity that one would expect.
Thankfully, the confusion that dominates much of the film subsides in a final act that resolves lingering questions, albeit in a manner that lacks the emotional heft of the video game. Those familiar with Silent Hill 2 will know that the game was inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment and, in more ways than one, serves as a twisted retelling of the mythological story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Like Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov, James gradually loses his grip on reality after he makes a morally dubious decision. And, like Orpheus, James descends into a labyrinth of hell to bring back the woman he loves, while also uncovering truths about himself. But these parallels and the profundity of the film’s messaging about guilt, shame, love, and grief fail to seamlessly translate from video game to movie. Although its final note packs an admittedly emotional punch, the film overall lacks the visceral impact that comes from the game’s distorted reality and what this says about our psychological trauma, possibly due to the fact that these themes are explored in a 100 minute passive viewing experience rather than an 18 hour immersive gaming experience.
VERDICT: 5/10
Director Christophe Gans returns to the town of Silent Hill twenty years after the release of the original video game adaptation for a film that, while perfectly capturing the feel of its source material, struggles to translate a thematically rich and abstract narrative to a new medium. Return to Silent Hill marks a stark departure from video game adaptations of the past like Wes Boll’s The House of the Dead and Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil in faithfully and meticulously adhering to the themes, narrative, and aesthetic of the beloved game it is based on. The latter of these attributes is where Gans’ film particularly excels, with creatures, production design, and overall atmosphere that deftly evoke what it feels like to play a Silent Hill game. Where the film goes awry is in its narrative, which begins in a confusing manner and creates unnecessary emotional distance between the audience and our lead protagonist, played by a somewhat stiff Jeremy Irvine. While the video game on which it is based profoundly explored grief, guilt, shame, and lost love in a story that drew on the mythological tale of Orpheus and Eurydice and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the film lacks the visceral impact that comes from an exploration of psychological trauma and bereavement, perhaps due to the fact that those themes are examined in a 100 minute viewing experience here rather than 18 hour game as originally intended. If only Return to Silent Hill managed to match its aesthetic achievements with a story rich in the themes and emotions of its source material. Instead, what we’re left with is a film that, while replicating the visuals of Silent Hill, fails to replicate its heart.