Dark Portal

I like a baffling film, if there is some sort of pay-off at the end.

Sometimes there is a very fine line between enough resolution and disappointment. And I think Dark Portal is the closest film to that line that I can remember. So close in fact, that I am really not sure if I liked it or not.

The girl Alice is quite intriguing. She dresses a bit oddly, and she has a recent disability that is unexplained. Not just not explained, but actively avoided.

There are very few other characters. So the whole film rests on whether you are interested in what is happening to Alice. For the most part I was. But there were times when I started to lose interest.

For example (avoiding spoilers as much as possible) there is a scene in the kitchen where she seems to have made a tough choice and acted on it... but then she completely fails to see it through. I didn't think that was really believable... but then I am not a 10 year old girl, so how would I know. I suppose that the aftermath of her initial action might have completely shocked her into a state of inaction. It sort of made sense.

Unlike the beginning. Which didn't make sense even after it was "explained" later. And even though the broad thrust of everything was resolved, sort of, at the end... it didn't feel very satisfying. Apart from the fact that only Alice could really make it happen... or could she? We are left to wonder (which is an aspect of the film that I liked).

So I guess I liked the ambiguity but not the details that they chose to clarify. The atmosphere and the staging were excellent and did keep me engaged... you can only guess where the story is even supposed to be happening, for example.

Hmmm. I am totally flip-flopping still between liked and didn't like. If you really pushed me, I think I would say... decide for yourself :)