Review of The Portable Door

'The Portable Door (2023)' is really bizarre, and I'm not just talking about it's purposefully peculiar plot. Instead, the piece is strange when it comes to its pacing and plotting. Its story doesn't really come into its own until it nears its conclusion, leaving most of the runtime dedicated to the bumbling protagonist's extended introduction to the potentially interesting world of work he stumbles into. There are several ideas here that are relatively intriguing, but almost none of them are developed to any real degree. The affair sort of just throws everything at the wall to see what sticks, but nothing does. Although the actors are all doing their best with the material (especially Sam Neill and Christoph Waltz, both of whom are in this far more than I expected them to be), most of the movie is simply boring. Its finale devolves into near-incomprehensible nonsense stuffed with unconvincing effects work and ham-fisted resolutions. It's somewhat baffling, to be honest, and its execution makes it far more confusing than it ought to be. Ultimately, this is a total dud. It isn't entertaining on any real level, despite not being particularly egregious. It simply isn't noteworthy in any positive way.