“Return to Silent Hill” key art.
Cineverse
Return to Silent Hill, a horror thriller based on Konami’s hit 2001 video game Silent Hill 2, is new in theaters. Find out what Rotten Tomatoes critics are saying about the film.
Directed by Christophe Gans — the filmmaker behind 2006’s Silent Hill — Return to Silent Hill opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The official summary for the film reads, “Return to Silent Hill brings the iconic horror franchise back to the screen. When James (Jeremy Irvine) receives a mysterious letter from his lost love Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson), he is drawn to Silent Hill — a once-familiar town now consumed by darkness.
“As he searches for her, James faces monstrous creatures and unravels a terrifying truth that will push him to the edge of his sanity.”
Rated R, Return to Silent Hill also stars Evie Templeton (Wednesday), Robert Strange, Nicola Alexis and Pearse Egan.
As of Friday, the Silent Hill sequel has earned a 16% “rotten” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews. Audiences, meanwhile, have awarded the film a 32% “rotten” rating based on 100-plus verified user ratings.
The RT Critics Consensus and audience summary for Return to Silent Hill are still pending.
How Are Individual Critics Receiving ‘Return To Silent Hill’?
Beatrice Loayza of the New York Times is among the top critics on RT who gives Return to Silent Hill a “rotten” score. The critic writes in her review summary, “Return to Silent Hill aims for a similar uncanniness — sometimes the actors look like digital doubles — but the result is less phantom realm, more jumbled assembly of cutscenes.”
Jesse Hassenger of the Guardian also gives Return to Silent Hill a “rotten” score, writing in his RT review summary, “It turns out, making a horror movie where the hero is more casually curious (or oblivious) than scared is a tricky proposition.”
Jacob Oller of the AV Club isn’t impressed with Return to Silent Hill, either, writing in his RT review summary, “Goofy and low-rent, it’s a dire look at what happens when you can’t leave the past behind — whether you’re a horror game character or a video game movie filmmaker.”
Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com is among the top critics on RT who gives Return to Silent Hill a “fresh” review score, writing, “Gans’ sequel delivers more of the same, so it likely won’t impress anyone who doesn’t already enjoy getting lost in the fog.”
The Seattle Times’ Dominic Baez also gives Return to Silent Hill a “fresh” score, writing in his RT review summary, “It shouldn’t work, and it doesn’t a lot of the time, but there’s something compelling in how it all wraps up, how decisions that floundered in the moment feel a little more justified once the credits roll (which are awesomely stylish for some reason). It doesn’t hold a candle to the game, but there’s enough here to warrant another visit to this tragic little town.”
Return to Silent Hill opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2026/01/23/return-to-silent-hill-not-welcome-by-rotten-tomatoes-critics/
