PORTAL: NO ESCAPE – Dan Trachtenberg

This is a short film about a young woman who awakens in a prison cell. There is nothing around her but four solid walls, a mirror, a bed, and markings on the wall of how many days she or someone before her have been there. She has on a hospital gown with blood on it. By smashing the mirror, she can use the piece of mirror to see on her neck/back area what & where that blood is coming from. She knows she has to escape. She knows she can’t take it any longer.

She begins to work out, exercise, build her muscles like never before. Sleep, eat, & work out – her daily routine all the while being monitored by a camera in the corner. Someone knows she’s there and why?

Her routine grows and grows. She is bored, scared, and wants nothing more, but to escape. Her wish comes true when she notices an opening in the wall. She opens it and finds a secret compartment. Inside is a very cool and Hi-Tech gun. She doesn’t know what it is or does, but is about to find out.

She shoots the futuristic gun at the wall to escape, but what it makes is a protal. She shoots the other wall opposite of that. Nervous, she puts her hand into the protal, but see’s it come out the other side which is across the room! Suddenly, the men monitoring her rush in to stop her from escaping, but it doesn’t. She uses the gun making portal after portal until she reachs the roof while being chased. With a quick acting thought, she portal’s herself across to the other buildings rooftop, far away from the men chasing her & who put her away in the first place. However, once she reaches the rooftop, escaping becomes harder than it looks. To find out what happens, I recommend, PORTAL: NO ESCAPE.

At first, this story seemed familiar. As it went on, it came back to me. There is a video game (which I have forgotten the name), that is almost just like this idea, however, the difference is the ending and quite frankly, I liked this ending way better. With no dialogue or many actors to carry the story, it uses suspense and action to keep your interest. And that, it did. I enjoyed this Short film and I especially liked the surprise ending. I think it’s worth your time.

RANK: 8.5/10

Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Cast: Danielle Rayne