Portal: The Film

There really isn’t any point in denying my undying love for the Portal games. I think they’re fantastically fun, brilliantly written, and incredibly subversive in every way a modern game should be. They’re also incredibly cinematic, with characters that display true pathos and situations that try your emotions in unexpected ways. So obviously Portal is ripe for a transition to film. But here’s the thing: I can’t think of a single game-to-film translation that didn’t suck.

Until now.

Let’s get this out of the way right at the beginning: this film is awesome. Dan Trachtenberg, co-creator and co-host of The Totally Rad Show, commercial director, and overall video game connoisseur, took on the challenge of translating the Portal games to film and just knocked it out of the park. Taking on a decidedly darker tone than the games, Portal: No Escape is a distilled and concentrated 7 minutes of incredibly dextrous storytelling that notches right into the Portal universe while even making its own additions. This isn’t just a fanfilm, this is a proper creative addition to the Portal universe.

Dear VALVe: hand Dan the keys to Portal, find him a proper film budget, and let this man run wild. Trust us – the results will be worth it.