Portales

I saw the reviews were pretty low, but the concept sounded intriguing and I gave it a try anyway.

The reviews are correct however - this really isn't that good.

Overall, I think of it as a collection of 4 shorts that all have a central scenario - the arrival of mysterious objects they decide to call "Doors", and different ways people interact with them.

And that's it. I have my theory on why they showed up and what their purpose is, but I want to keep it spoiler free. It seems pretty clear based on a few big giveaways that the one door itself reveals, and a certain scene at the very end of the 3rd part.

Yeah, the classroom bit was about it for anything intriguing. Then the whole Josh Peck as a "leading man" thing tanks it. The part at the cabin was high school drama club stuff. And the tacked-on work-at-home ending perhaps because of pandemic but also definitely because they ran out of money....unbelievably awful.

Save your brain. Literally do anything else with 90 minutes of your life.

There are four low budget shorts, their quality varying, but the best of them is not good. I kept waiting for something to happen, but then it was either something underwhelming or the story ended abruptly. I liked the way the Doors were designed, especially in the first short. They could have taken that and made it a full feature with a story and it would have been good. Unfortunately other than the design it was all confusing and artsy while saying nothing clear. No closure, no actual action or agency, just "hey, this happened. The end".

What upset me most about this production is that both the Imdb description text and the trailer are failing to present this as a collection of short films. Instead you expect a full on movie with a lot of different storylines that somehow (they must, right?) connect to each other. But they don't! Neither do they reach any conclusion on their own.

White created a movie called Portals, released in 2019, and Doors follows the same formula. I liked Doors more than Portals. However, that isn't saying much. Neither film is very good. Both movies are a series of individual short stories. Each short story is written and directed by different people, using different actors in different situations involving the primary plot device. You guessed it, enigmatic doors and portals. I like this movie concept, but the finished product feels more like a film student's project. The script, acting, and production value just isn't there. Some of the acting and dialogue were almost painful to watch. By the time the credits rolled, I was disappointed. If you really want to see Doors, I certainly wouldn't pay extra to watch this movie.

Four high school students are stuck in detention when something starts happening in the world. That is the first section in this movie which is split into different parts. The first section is a fascinating Twilight Zone story with four unknown young actors. It's twenty minutes. It could have been a fine full length sci-fi horror but it skips to the next section. The second section has Josh Peck, Lina Esco, and Dugan O'Neal in a group. Dugan is a co-writer and co-director of the movie. What I like least about this section is the attempt at light-heart pranking. The world is newly apocalyptic and Josh Peck keeps joking around. It's annoying. The movie disintegrates over time as each section has its own disjointed tone within this world. I'd rather they stuck with the four kids and keep going with their story. It wouldn't be great but at least, it would have a chance at being functional.