Return To Silent Hill’s Ambiguous Ending & Maria’s Fate Broken Down By Star

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Be warned, this article contains spoilers for the movie Return to Silent Hill! Christophe Gans, who co-wrote and directed the film, made a slight change to the ending compared to the original source material, and actress Hannah Emily Anderson has shared her thoughts on it. The movie is based on the 2001 video game Silent Hill 2 and follows James Sunderland (played by Jeremy Irvine) as he journeys to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a mysterious letter from his deceased wife.

During his journey, James encounters Maria, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to his deceased wife, Mary, but is much more assertive and provocative. They begin to depend on each other to survive as the world of Return to Silent Hill conjures up many of the terrifying creatures from the video games, such as the imposing Pyramid Head and the unsettling nurses.

The movie reaches its climax as James finally understands that Maria is a figment of his imagination, born from his guilt over ending his late wife’s suffering. Once he accepts he no longer needs her, Maria is violently killed by Pyramid Head – who is revealed to be a manifestation of James himself – while he comes to terms with his actions and apologizes to his real wife, Mary.

Before the film came out, Grant Hermanns from ScreenRant spoke with Hannah Emily Anderson about Return to Silent Hill. When discussing what happened to her character, Maria, Anderson admitted she had “no idea what she was getting into” regarding the filming process. She explained the scene took “over two days” to shoot, and involved her being “put in a harness and suspended,” spending “most of the day hanging upside down and screaming.”

Hannah Anderson found the experience surprisingly difficult. She hadn’t expected it to be so physically demanding, especially since it involved unusual body positions, hanging, and screaming, which made her feel quite nauseous. Despite not enjoying it, she was proud of overcoming the challenge and found it a unique experience.

Anderson admitted it was difficult, but she was happy she got to try new things and perform stunts. She was quick to praise the incredible stunt performers who supported her, and said the team was wonderful to work with. Despite that, she felt deeply for her character, Maria, and found it hard to say goodbye, even though she knew it was necessary.

During her final scenes with James, and shortly before her character’s death, Mary appeared as a moth-like creature—a disguise confirmed by actress Anderson, who revealed she was under prosthetics and playfully said, “It was me!” Anderson explained that a major career ambition of hers is to undergo significant physical transformations for roles, and she’s particularly interested in creature effects. She even joked about wanting to be transformed into a zombie for a part.

Anderson described the Mary makeup as the next best thing, explaining that it took five or six hours to apply and an hour to remove. She praised the prosthetics team as incredible. The process also gave her a unique challenge in the final scene with the monstrous Mary and James, requiring her to overcome personal fears to deliver a convincing performance.

Okay, so being strapped to a bed in the Moth Mary costume was…intense. Honestly, I’m a bit claustrophobic, and I have a real fear of heights and fire, and all those fears hit me at once during the shoot. There was this one moment where I just thought, ‘How on earth did I end up here? Seriously, can’t I just do a nice, cozy Christmas movie?’ [laughs] But overall, it was an incredible experience, and I’d jump at the chance to do something like that again. Now I’m just waiting for Guillermo del Toro to call – hint, hint!

After James apologizes, Mary’s body returns to normal, but the game Return to Silent Hill ends on an unclear note. James drives them into Toluca Lake, seemingly intending to die, but the scene resets to when they first met. He then drives them away from town instead of towards it. This suggests either that time is repeating itself or that James is hallucinating as he dies.

I always wondered about how the story ended, and when I heard what the actress thought, it really resonated with me. She described herself as a total romantic, and I feel the same way! She believes James is given a fresh start after everything he went through, and honestly, that makes so much sense. She felt it would be just too devastating for him to have to fully process all that trauma, so she thinks the ending gives him a chance to live a new life. I totally agree – it’s a much more hopeful way to look at it.

One Return To Silent Hill Monster Gave Anderson “Nightmares For Days”

ScreenRant asked Hannah about her familiarity with the Silent Hill franchise, especially considering Christophe’s interpretation of Silent Hill 2 in the film. They wanted to know if she was a longtime fan or if she researched the games after getting involved with the project.

I first experienced Silent Hill when I was fifteen, seeing the original film directed by Christophe in theaters, and those visuals have stayed with me ever since. I hadn’t played the game before, so when I auditioned for the role, I watched some gameplay footage to understand the world and learn about Mary’s background. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming – I actually had to stop watching! [Laughs] It was really interesting, but I’m not a gamer myself; I’m actually quite bad at them. I can’t even hold a controller properly – I end up using my fingers instead of my thumbs! So, I was familiar with the general idea of Silent Hill, but not the game specifically.

ScreenRant asked what it was like to transition from being afraid of the world the movie depicts to actually being immersed in it while filming.

It was a really intense experience overall. What was so impressive was how completely realized the world of the show was on set. The set design was phenomenal, and they used a lot of practical effects – meaning the monsters were actually there, performed by amazing dancers. As an actor, you usually have to rely heavily on your imagination, but having everything built around us in real time was incredible, and honestly, pretty scary, especially when we were running from the nurses! I had nightmares about them for days. They were fantastic – definitely my favorite monsters.

I’m really curious to hear what it was like seeing Pyramid Head for the first time. He’s such an iconic figure, along with the nurses, and it must have been incredible to experience that in person.

It’s funny because Robert Strange, the actor who played Pyramid Head, is actually a really kind and gentle person with a soft voice. Seeing him transform into Pyramid Head was genuinely frightening – as scary as the nurse characters! He had a very imposing presence on set, but then he’d speak in that sweet voice from behind the mask, which was surprisingly calming.

ScreenRant asked the actor about playing the twins Mary and Maria, noting how interesting it was to portray two such different sides of the same person. They wanted to know how the actor found a consistent core to both characters while switching between them during filming.

Mary was my foundation in this role, as I originally only auditioned for her. When I learned I’d be playing several characters, I was surprised! I started with Mary and used her as a base. Maria is almost the complete opposite, but it’s fascinating because all the characters I play are, in a way, different sides of Mary. I focused on Mary’s core personality and then explored how that would change if expressed through Maria. Maria uses her sexuality and charm to get what she needs, which is how Mary’s past trauma shows up in that character. It was incredibly fun and challenging to portray all these different facets of one person.

ScreenRant asked the actor, “You mentioned feeling deeply connected to the character of Mary, but when playing Maria—who is a broken version of her—did you have a way to remind yourself of that difference?”

For me, a lot of getting into character came from the hair, makeup, and costume. It was almost like stepping into an anime version of Mary – the outfit included a very supportive bra and a short skirt! I also created playlists for each character. Whenever I had a free moment between scenes, I’d listen to music, and I even included some Christina Aguilera because her style influenced Maria’s costume. That helped me find the more confident and sensual side of the character, which was new for me. I’d heard Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black used a similar technique, and I thought, ‘I want to try that!’

I’m curious about working with Jeremy Allen White and how you approached the two very different relationships his character has. Maria interacts with him at a different point in his life and in a very different way than Mary, who is a consistent source of positivity for James in the flashbacks.

Playing Maria was such a blast! It was a totally different experience from anything I’ve done before. She’s so direct and isn’t afraid to speak her mind, which was incredibly freeing. I loved being able to challenge James’ character and really push things. It’s a contrast to Mary, who’s much more open-hearted and sees the world in a completely different way – not exactly naive, but definitely more innocent. Honestly, it was just a really fun role. And working with Jeremy was amazing; he’s an incredible actor who fully committed to every scene. What was cool was how naturally he responded differently depending on whether he was interacting with Maria or Mary.

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2026-01-28 04:33