Return to Silent Hill is a 2026 supernatural psychological horror film written and directed by Christophe Gans, co-written by Sandra Vo-Anh and Will Schneider, and produced by Victor Hadida through his Davis Films banner. Loosely based on the 2001 video game Silent Hill 2 by Konami, the film serves as the third installment in the Silent Hill film series and a reboot in the series. Starring Jeremy Irvine and Hannah Emily Anderson, it follows James Sunderland, a broken man who receives a mysterious letter which calls him back to Silent Hill in search of his lost love. However, he finds a once-recognizable town and encounters terrifying figures both familiar and new, and begins to question his own sanity. Plans for a new Silent Hill film adaptation initially began in December 2006, with Gans and former writer Roger Avary had been hired to helm a film adaptation of Silent Hill 2, which was greenlit by Sony. This project did not move forward and was instead released as a sequel titled Silent Hill: Revelation (2012) without Gans and Avary's involvement. By 2020, Gans announced he was working on a new Silent Hill film, adapting the events of the second game. The film was officially green-lit in October 2022, with Gans returning to write and direct the project. An international co-production between France and the United States, the film was shot in Germany and Serbia from April 2023 to February 2024. Return to Silent Hill was released theatrically in the United States by Cineverse and Iconic Events Releasing on January 23, 2026, and it will be released in France by Metropolitan Filmexport on February 4, 2026. The film received negative reviews from critics. == Plot == Some time ago, artist James Sunderland has a chance meeting with Mary Crane as she is leaving her hometown of Silent Hill. When he inadvertently causes her to miss a bus, she decides to go back. James offers her a ride, and they spark a romance, eventually moving in together in Silent Hill. In the present, James has moved away and become an alcoholic following the end of his relationship with Mary, and he is in contact with a psychologist who is concerned about his mental well-being. He receives a letter from Mary beckoning him back to Silent Hill, and he hastily returns. He discovers that the town is covered in fog and falling ash, and has been almost entirely abandoned due to an unspecified illness that killed many. He meets a woman named Angela and is later attacked by a monstrous entity. The town transforms into a twisted, nightmare version of itself and James is forced to flee to the Wood Side Apartment building where he and Mary once lived. Inside, he meets a violent and mentally-unstable man named Eddie and a young girl named Laura. James learns that Mary was taken to Brookhaven Hospital and then encounters a ghoulish figure known as Pyramid Head who frightens Eddie away. After a tense encounter with Pyramid Head, James wakes up back in the "real" Silent Hill where he again encounters Angela and Laura; Laura claims that she knows Mary. James soon meets a woman named Maria who looks almost exactly like Mary and offers to take him to Brookhaven. Along the way, James recalls several memories of learning that Mary was involved in a cult operating in Silent Hill that was founded by her father. After seeing her being drugged and taking part in an arcane ritual, he and Mary broke up and he left Silent Hill. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Maria discovers an audio tape explaining that Mary was poisoned. The hospital transforms into a nightmarish version of itself and Maria is horribly wounded by monstrous nurses. James is forced to abandon her, and is lured into a room by Laura where he encounters a giant, insect-like version of Mary. James suddenly awakens in a hospital where his psychologist explains that Mary died shortly after their breakup, and he has become delusional and obsessed with "saving her." The hospital transforms back into Brookhaven and James is able to deduce that Maria isn't real, but is actually a doppelganger of Mary. He finds himself in a gallery made up of dozens of paintings of Mary, and declares that he doesn't need Maria anymore. Pyramid Head suddenly appears behind Maria and kills her; James briefly sees a version of himself under Pyramid Head's mask. James awakens outside of the Lakeview Hotel, which he and Mary used to frequent. Inside, he encounters Laura, who explains that she, Maria and Angela are all figments of James' imagination and are variant of aspects of Mary's personality. James also sees a vision of Angela-Mary being attacked and enveloped by a ferocious monster resembling Mary's father. James makes it to the roof of Lakeview Hotel, where he has a final flashback. James recalls that he returned to Silent Hill several months prior to find Mary dying of a prolonged illness caused by the cult drugging her; James smothered her to death in a mercy killing to end her suffering. The insect-like version of Mary appears before James and he apologizes to her. It transforms back into Mary's body. James places Mary's body in his car and drives off a pier in an apparent suicide. He suddenly wakes up in the moment where he and Mary met, and relives their first encounter. However, this time he chooses not to take her back to Silent Hill, instead driving away with her. == Cast == Jeremy Irvine as James SunderlandAn alcoholic painter, who suffers from depression, following the death of his girlfriend Mary Crane. Hannah Emily Anderson as Mary Crane / Maria / Angela / Moth MaryAnderson portrays four credited characters within the film: Mary Crane, Maria, Angela, and Moth Mary. In the film, Mary Crane is portrayed as James' girlfriend, as opposed to his wife like in Silent Hill 2. Mary is the daughter of Joshua Crane, a cult leader in Silent Hill who is revered by members like a god. Conversely, Maria is a sexualized, flirtatous doppelgänger of Mary; while Angela is a mentally tortured women, who has suffered as a victim of sexual abuse. Mary's full name is later revealed in the film as Mary Angela Laura Crane, after the reveal that Maria and Angela (as well as Laura) are alternate versions of Mary, created by Silent Hill. Evie Templeton as LauraA young girl who James encounters within Silent Hill. Laura is later revealed in the film to be an alternate, younger version of Mary, created by Silent Hill. Robert Strange as Red PyramidA monstrous creature who James encounters in Silent Hill. In the film, it is later revealed that underneath Red Pyramid's mask, is a version of James himself. Nicola Alexis as MAn original character created for the film, Alexis portrays M, James' therapist Pearse Egan as EddieAn obese man who briefly encounters James within Silent Hill, and later attacks him. == Production == === Initial plans (2006–2007) === In December 2006, Silent Hill writer/director Christophe Gans announced that Sony had officially ordered another installment in the Silent Hill film series. Gans stated that he would like to return to the franchise, subject to his commitment to Onimusha, and stated that Roger Avary would write the screenplay. In 2007, producer Don Carmody said a screenplay was in slow development and suggested that Gans would likely not return as director due to other commitments. In November 2010, Sony Pictures announced that M. J. Bassett would direct from her own screenplay, Samuel Hadida was attached as producer and that filming was expected to begin "this winter". Avary was sentenced to one year in jail for vehicular manslaughter, preventing his involvement. The sequel, Silent Hill: Revelation, was released in 2012. Gans said that he was supposed to direct Revelation, "but when I realized the producers wanted to make the film a kind of Resident Evil, I refused. I wanted to stay true to my principles." === Revival (2020–2025) === In January 2020, Gans told French magazine Allocine that he was in the process of writing new screenplays based on the Silent Hill and Fatal Frame series by Konami and Koei Tecmo with producer Victor Hadida. He later clarified that the work was not a direct sequel to the 2006–2012 film series and that his sensibilities had evolved since the release of the first film. He also described the series as an anthology similar to The Twilight Zone, a place where any story could be told, and intended to depict a more psychoanalytic side to the town. Written by Gans, Sandra Vo-Anh, and Will Schneider, the film is an adaptation of the video game Silent Hill 2 (2001), with the intention being to create a "faithful" adaptation of the game. Gans said in September 2022 that he had finished the film's storyboards and that the film takes inspiration from P.T. (2014), the playable teaser for the cancelled game Silent Hills. By October 2022, the film was officially green-lit with the title Return to Silent Hill. Gans worked with Konami to create a new aesthetic for the monsters, including those that had been featured in his previous films, such as Pyramid Head. The film was financed by Davis Films and Ashland Hill Media Finance. It was awarded €1 million from Germany's FFY Bayern media funding program. Unlike the first two Silent Hill films, which were released by Sony Pictures and Open Road Films, the third installment was produced independently of a major studio. Distribution was handled by Cineverse, best known for releasing the horror film Terrifier 3 (2024). Gans stated in a February 2025 interview that he "finished the film 10 days ago" and that it "was supposed to be finished in April 2024, but because of the executive producers, it dragged on and [he] finished it this January". === Filming === Principal photography took place from April 2023 to February 2024. Filming was done in Belgrade and the German cities of Lake Ammer, Munich, Nuremberg, and Penzing. According to Gans, every monster in the film was portrayed by a professional dancer in prosthetic makeup as opposed to using computer generated imagery. === Music === Akira Yamaoka, who has scored the vast majority of the Silent Hill game series, composed the music for the film. Music from the original game was used as temp music during editing. == Marketing == The film's first teaser trailer was released in August 2025; an international trailer followed in December 2025. On January 7, 2026, Gamestop and Cineverse unveiled a promotional collaboration for the film. Select Gamestop locations in the U.S. allowed fans to visit a store, and access a digital campaign on their phones to receive rewards. By visiting youliveherenow.com and completing digital tasks at a participating GameStop, fans could receive a collectible pin and sticker for the film. == Release == In May 2025, it was reported that Cineverse acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the film. Cineverse's Bloody Disgusting label and frequent collaborator Iconic Events Releasing were added as distribution partners the following month, with the film releasing in the United States on January 23, 2026. Metropolitan Filmexport will release the film in France on February 4, 2026. In the United States, during the film's first four days of release, select U.S. theaters provided ticket purchasers with a limited-edition postcard, to commemorate the film's release. == Reception == === Critical response === On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 15% of 33 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A visually tacky sequel that lumbers along with a plodding pulse and lacking the thematic resonance that distinguished its source material, Return to Silent Hill gets lost in the haze." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 31 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. == Notes == == References == == Bibliography == This article incorporates material derived from the "Return to Silent Hill" article on the Silent Hill Wiki at Fandom (formerly Wikia) and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License (December 2, 2022). == External links == Official website Return to Silent Hill at IMDb