Portal

The writer-director Blank Space utilises the concept of Portal-a doorway, gate, or entrance to intertwine it with the Sci-Fi genre to bring out the best in the leading Man Michael Sasaki who plays Josh in the film.

The plot of Portal revolves around Josh (Michael Sasaki), his wife Whitney (Abby Latip), and how his life changes for the better when he has an unusual and unexpected emotional conversation.

The short film begins with a combination of close-mid shots giving the audience a sneak peek into the day-to-day topics between a husband and wife and later incorporating the element of alternate reality into the narrative to increase the degree of audience engagement with the content of Portal. The set design, the white and grey colour pallet, lighting, sound, dialogues, costume, hair, makeup, and props are kept simple so that the makers can add pace to the story to effectively communicate the key messages it wants to deliver to its viewers. The writer/director along with the creative team beautifully managed to maintain continuity in the script and curiosity in the minds of the audience even with such short running time.

In terms of Performance, Michael Sasaki plays Josh who has become a lovable as well as responsible family man by sacrificing a lot of his emotional needs to take care of providing the best things in life to his wife and daughter. Sasaki brilliantly portrays and expresses the rollercoaster of feelings Josh has experienced in both the timelines showcased in the movie through the dialogues, body language, voice modulation, facial expressions, and his eyes.

Abby Latip plays the role of Whitney (Josh’s wife). Latip has a very short screen-time; she manages to contribute to the screenplay effectively. The audience from the very beginning gets to know about the reason of the emotional quotient in Josh’s life. Therefore, this very factor binds the story together and ensures a smooth flow of the same.

Portal talks about how important acceptance in the eyes of society becomes to people that they end up keeping their happiness and self-love on the back seat in terms of priorities in life. The short film reiterates that everyone should be allowed to make their choices in life and not be judged for the same because situations keep on changing with time. Portal tells the audience that the concept of decision-making completely transforms once one has entered into the phase where he/she functions as a family unit. The cinematic piece highlights what toxic people/environment can do to one’s mental health and adversely affect loved ones too in the long run. The creative piece restates that people are responsible for protecting their self-respect and no one else shouldn’t be given the right to be disrespectful. The dramatic piece talks about sharing life experiences providing an opportunity to learn and implement them in their day-to-day routine thus improvising their lifestyle.

To conclude I would like to appreciate the writer-director Blank Space creating the right mix of emotions and Sci-fi to keep the audience hooked to the movie all through the 11 minutes.