Film Review - Portal (2021)

Portal, an original sci-fi flick with absolutely no relation to the popular video game series of the same name, is a project with eyes far bigger than its stomach. As is often the case with indie science fiction, the movie presents plenty of big, broad ideas about the hidden corners of the universe and all of the possibilities therein, but it is not backed by the requisite resources for these grand concepts to be realized in a compellingly convincing fashion. Some low-budget sci-fi films are able to overcome their monetary limitations by way of the quality of their performances or the sheer ingenuity of their interesting premises.

Bogged down by cringe-inducing acting and tediously undeveloped themes, Portal is decidedly not one of those films.

Although I try my best not to let the consensus opinion of a particular movie tinge my own perspective, it was nigh impossible to avoid all of the negative attention that Portal, known as Doors in the US and other parts of the world, was receiving upon giving it a cursory Google search prior to watching it. This film, directed by the triumvirate of Dugan O’Neal, Saman Kesh, and Jeff Desom, is being summarily trashed by basically all who have had the pleasure of experiencing it. I’d be lying if I said my expectations weren’t in the gutter as my viewing of the movie began.

Nevertheless, the opening minutes proffered a glimmer of hope that perhaps the cacophonous choir of naysayers showering Portal with unadulterated disdain were being unduly harsh on an ambitious, if fairly amateurish sci-fi movie. The first act, given the moniker of “Lockdown”, wasn’t exactly Kubrick-esque, but as far as science fiction filmmaking goes, you can do worse. The performances of its largely teenage cast were pretty bad (the laughable dialogue wasn’t doing these poor kids any favours), but I was moderately interested in seeing where the story was taken from this introductory vignette.

The movie swiftly squanders the meagre dribs and drabs of intrigue it does manage to generate upon the commencement of its second chapter, and it fails to rekindle any sort of dramatic momentum from this point forward.

The most glaring issue plaguing this mind-bogglingly unfocused and criminally dull sci-fi thriller is the lack of emotional or thematic depth in its screenplay. All of the zany concepts and creative ideas that the writers came up with while crafting the blueprint for this movie are only given a perfunctory glance in the finished product, a drive-by acknowledgement of their existence without delving into them by any meaningful measure. Toss in some wretched acting, silly-looking special effects, and curiously misguided narrative decisions, and you’ve got a recipe for one of the worst sci-fi movies I’ve seen in quite some time.

This is a film so lazy and half-baked that it actually plasters sentences of exposition across the screen at various stages of its story instead of trying to divulge pertinent information about the plot through any semblance of clever storytelling. I would have honestly preferred the characters simply turn towards the camera and speak directly to the audience as they explain everything that’s going on in painstaking detail. Even that would have been less offensive than the artistic choice of putting text on the screen to ensure the viewer doesn’t get lost in the incoherent drivel that filled this movie.

Portal is 84 minutes long. It felt like it was 3 hours. That should tell you everything you need to know. Steer clear of it at all costs.