Hostile Dimensions

 Emily (Josie Rogers), a graffiti artist, goes missing after entering a mysterious free-standing door in the middle of an abandoned building. Sam (Annabel Logan) gets wind of the case and the attending footage, and decides it would make a great subject for her new documentary; So she enlists the help of her best friend Ash (Joma West) and after a short investigation they bag an interview with the guy who filmed the artist's disappearance (writer/director Graham Hughes). More importantly, they also find the door the artist disappeared through, which they take and install at Sam's living room - floor stands and all.

 A little experimentation quickly reveals that the door does indeed open to other dimensions - some hostile, some not so much. But after a quick brush with danger (in the form someone in a panda suit with CGI tentacles sprouting from his back) the documentarians recruit a nerdy university professor (Paddy Kondracki) who seems to specialize in very basic multiverse exposition to try and help them work out what they have on their hands, and maybe mount an attempt to rescue poor Emily.

 There's a welcome twist towards the middle that hammers the story into a (slightly) more focused suspense-like shape - it's not the most developed of scripts, and it soon writes itself into a corner, leading to a deeply unsatisfying finale - but an extremely amiable tone, a very game cast of actors (of varying skill but unflagging commitment) and a goofy, pervading sense of humour more than carry it. As a bonus, this was produced in Scotland - so the delivery of all lines is about fifteen percent funnier than it would be otherwise. That's just science.

 Visually, things are about what you'd expect; the found footage genre just isn't conducive to a good aesthetic. Nor is the very limited budget. While the dimension-hopping premise allows the film to get remarkably ambitious, the digital effects remain lower-end youtube material, albeit cleverly stitched into the film's mockumentary format.

 No matter. On the main, Hostile Dimensions is a very winning film: creative, funny, enthusiastic, warm-hearted and engaging. You definitely have to meet it halfway and gloss over some of its limitations, but that's a given for a micro-budgeted indie sci-fi found footage comedy that treads ground that's been trampled flat over the last few decade or so. Loved it.