The Honeycut: In Defense of ‘Return to Silent Hill’

This mind-blowing article contains spoilers, so read at your own discretion. If you want to go watch it first, come back afterwards because Honeybrook's thoughts on it are 🤯🔥

Welcome to Silent Hill

Let me start off by saying that I am a big fan of “Silent Hill 2” for the PlayStation 2. It is a big part of what pulled me back into horror nearly ten years ago and is part of why I write in the genre. That being said, I may be the only fan of the game who loved the recent movie based on it, “Return to Silent Hill.” 

The film seems to be unanimously panned by fans and critics alike. So, what made me like this one so much? You’ll just have to keep reading to find out. 

The Story

James Sunderland returns to the quaint town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his former girlfriend, Mary Crane. However, when James arrives in town, it is deserted, crumbling, and filled with monsters and other strange characters. James must find his way through town to meet Mary at their ‘special place.’  

Honey’s Cut

I’ll get the negatives out of the way first. The CGI effects and green screens in this movie can be rough at times. There were points where it felt like I was watching an Xbox 360 game. But even that really didn’t take anything away from this movie for me. 

Now to what I liked. This film fleshes out the backstory between James and Mary and shows how they met, what their relationship was like, and what ultimately led to their breakup. Whereas, in the game, all we know is that Mary is James’ wife and she died a few years back. She almost seems more like a symbol than a real person. However, in “Return to Silent Hill,” James and Mary both feel like real, very flawed people. 

So, what led to James leaving Mary in the film? Throughout the movie, it is hinted that Mary is leading a double life, engaging in cult activities. It all culminates when he follows her one day and sees her being torn apart during a ritual. This is odd because later that day she is back to normal. We come to find out that Mary’s father founded the cult and had been poisoning her since she was a child, forcing her to engage in rituals. 

James is crushed when he finds out the woman he loves is leading a double life. If you’ve ever experienced something like that, then you’ll know it feels like you’re walking through a desert in the Twilight Zone, trying to figure out what, if anything, was real. 

In my opinion, there was no cult. In fact, in quite a departure from the game, the movie cuts to a scene about halfway through where James is in the hospital and his therapist explains to the doctor that this is all in James’ mind. The cult, the ritual, none of it was real.

So, what do I think really happened? I think that Mary’s father drugged and sexually abused her from a young age. I also believe he would allow his friends (the alleged cult) to abuse her as well. When James saw all this happening to Mary, her being ‘torn apart,’ his mind shattered and he had to invent something that made more sense to him, or that wasn’t quite as horrible as reality. That would explain why Mary is intact after being ripped to shreds.

I also don’t believe that James killed Mary in the movie. I think that after James left, Mary ended her own life, or maybe she died from years of being drugged. He conjured up the vision of him suffocating her because he blamed himself for her death. In his mind, he killed her. Unlike the game, I don’t believe he actually murdered Mary. His therapist knows his story, and if he really did kill her, he’d be in prison, not a free man wandering around a ghost town. 

I love the ending too. After James drives his car into the lake with Mary’s body in the back seat, everything resets to the day they first met. Only this time, instead of driving to Silent Hill, James and Mary speed off in the opposite direction. Is it a dying dream? A temporal paradox? The trauma cycle resetting? I have no idea, but it is a hopeful ending that reminds us that it’s never too late to start again. Even if it is in a different time or another life.

Honey’s Final Thought

Can I see why fans of the “Silent Hill” games dislike this movie? Kind of, but not really. It takes the basic story from “Silent Hill 2” and does its own thing with it. To me, if I want to experience the original story, the game will always be there. I want to see what other people can do with the story. Much like Kubrick’s “The Shining” movie vs. Stephen King’s novel. 

I also say the same thing with my own books. If one ever gets made into a movie, I don’t want to see an exact retelling. I’ve already told that story, let’s see a fresh take on it. 

Maybe through years of disappointing video game adaptations, I’ve learned not to expect a carbon copy of a game’s story. But I feel like “Return to Silent Hill” does an amazing job of capturing the haunting atmosphere and emotional narrative of the game. It has taken a lot of unjust flack because it is being compared to one of the greatest video games of all time. One that many people have a nostalgic or emotional attachment to.

Or, maybe it is terrible, and I just read way too much into the entire thing. Nah, it rules. And this is a (silent) hill I am willing to die on.