Written and directed by Scottish Filmmaker Graham Hughes (A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide 2014, Death of a Vlogger 2019), Hostile Dimensions is his latest microbudget project in which he uses the same cast and crew to take on different roles in found footage style films.
Released in select theaters and nationwide via digital platforms through Dark Sky Films on August 23, 2024, this time the action revolves around the missing graffiti artist Emily (Josie Rogers). Emily has not been seen ever since she seemingly disappeared into another dimension, after stepping through a mysterious freestanding door in an abandoned building. When low budget filmmakers Sam (Annabel Logan) and Ash (Joma West) come across the footage of her disappearance, they decide to follow her trail. Driving to the abandoned building where Emily vanished, they find the same strange door and decide to take it back to Ash’s flat where they set it up in the living room. With the help and advice of Professor Innis (Paddy Kondracki), they are soon spending each day exploring multiple dimensions. However, not all is as it seems and unbeknownst to the trio, because something sinister may have followed them back through the door.
Whilst Hughes’ budget might be micro, the ideas contained within Hostile Dimensions are macro. In one dimension, huge whales ‘swim’ across the vast expanse of the sky whereas another simply contains an eerily deserted kids’ play centre with an extremely kid unfriendly panda. The flip side to these big ideas is that this is often when the film’s shoestring budget is at its most exposed. Audiences who are used to the multiverses of massive blockbusters may struggle to adjust to slightly shonky effects and editing. Elsewhere, Hostile Dimensions struggles to completely stick its landing. The third act and finale sort of offers an explanation for what has been going on, but it is not as satisfying as what came before it.
With that all being said, Hostile Dimensions is certainly worth checking out if you are a fan of the found footage genre. One element that could have been jarring but that the film does
extremely well in particular is to successfully combine both Science Fiction and Horror. There are certainly more than enough nods to Sci-Fi to satisfy fans of that genre but simultaneously Hostile Dimensions does not alienate Horror fans either. Though the film is not necessarily scary or terrifying, there are definitely moments where the tension is raised and that might even make the audience jump. There are also a few moments of Comedy which offer light relief.
Overall, all these different tonal elements could have clashed, Hughes makes them work well together. With each subsequent film, Hughes is showing himself to be a filmmaker bursting with big ideas and passion. If anything, Hostile Dimensions shows what he can do on a small scale and so it would be great to see what he could do with an even bigger budget. That is why Cryptic Rock gives this latest film 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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