Alcoholic painter James Sunderland (Jeremy Irvine) is consumed with bad memories. He remembers the time that he met Mary Crane (Hannah Emily Anderson) at a bus stop on a mountain that overlooked the idyllic town of Silent Hill. He remembers falling in love with Mary. He remembers living in Silent Hill with her. And he remembers the circumstances that led to him leaving the town without her. Now, James spends him time in bars and dodges meetings with his therapist (Nicola Alexis).
Then, from seemingly out of nowhere, James receives a letter from Mary, asking him to return to Silent Hill and to save her. He heads into a town that is far different from the place that he remembers. A permanent mist now fills the streets of Silent Hill and ash continually falls from the sky. Every time static is heard on a radio, it means that something dangerous is nearby. Monsters emerge from the darkness. James meets a variety of people, from the slovenly Eddie (Pearse Egan) to Maria (Hannah Emily Anderson), who looks enough like Mary that they could be sisters. (And, as you already noticed, both Mary and Maria are played by the same actress.)
It’s a deadly and dangerous town. Myself, if I had been lucky enough to get out of Silent Hill the first time, I would probably never return. However, James has his own guilt and personal demons to confront….
Return to Silent Hill is based on a video game, Silent Hill 2. Now, before I say anything else, I should make clear that I have not played Silent Hill 2. I’ve been told that the film sticks to the basics of the game’s plot while changing some very important details. The biggest change appears to be that Return to Silent Hill features the cult from the earlier Silent Hill game (and film) whereas Silent Hill 2 did not. From what I’ve read, that’s actually a pretty big change and it actually alters the way that some of James’s actions are interpreted. I don’t want to spoil the film but I will say that I can understand why fans of the game were not particularly happy with the movie.
As for the movie itself, it has some effective moments. The Silent Hill imagery is undeniably creepy. After watching the movie, I took a nap and I actually had a nightmare about a killer with a pyramid head. I have Return to Silent Hill to thank for that. (Thanks a lot, movie!) But, my goodness, is this ever a slow film! If any movie needed to be a 70-minute animated film, it was Return to Silent Hill. Instead, excluding the end credits, it’s a 94-minute live action film that feels considerably longer. Hannah Emily Anderson is boring as Mary but considerably better as Maria. Jeremy Irvine delivers his lines with a bland blankness. The faceless, acid-bleeding zombie thing had more personality.
A lot of effort was obviously made to capture the look of the video game while shooting Return to Silent Hill. I actually appreciated the filmmakers dedication to the film’s visual style. That said, the end result was that watching the film felt a lot like watching someone else play a video game. It’s slightly interesting at first but eventually, you just want to grab the controller and steal a car of your own.
Through the Shattered Lens 