Hostile Dimensions (2023) Funny, light-hearted trek through the Multiverse (Review)

In an infinite multiverse, there is infinite potential for terror.

The idea of parallel universes is nothing new, yet in the past couple of years, there has been a colossal boom in “multiverse movies”, and yet, in spite of films on this subject matter being released with frequency to the point of over-saturation, the central concept still feels under-explored in many of them. Aside from a couple of notable titles, including the Daniels’ acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), “multiverse movies” have been less about exploring the infinite possibilities presented by multiversal theory, and more about figuring out ways to bring together characters and elements from decades’ worth of studio and franchise IP – and the result of that isn’t inherently bad, per se, but it does more-often-than-not restrict the boundless creative and storytelling potential of having infinity itself at your fingertips.

This, of course, is no problem to a low-budget indie filmmaker – and, whether dabbling in dimension-hopping or not, micro-budget filmmaking inherently has that glorious energy of creative freedom and gonzo audacity that studio pictures sometimes strive and fail to achieve.

Enter Hostile Dimensions – the latest found-footage feature from Scottish director Graham Hughes who indie horror enthusiasts may recognise from his previous horror outing, Death of a Vlogger (2019), a social media-based spook-fest that served as an unwitting precursor to the screen-recorded scares of numerous lockdown horror hits when it played to audiences at FrightFest. Whereas Death of a Vlogger was largely single-location, and kept the reach of its scares fairly small-scale, Hostile Dimensions is a noticeably more ambitious follow-up, with a concept that would be ambitious for even the most confident of genre filmmakers – that concept being, “what if two documentary filmmakers unwittingly found the key to interdimensional travel?”

Hostile Dimensions follows a duo of documentarians, Sam (Annabel Logan) and Ash (Joma West), whose latest project has them investigating the unsolved disappearance of amateur graffiti artist Emily (Josie Rogers), who has been missing ever since she was recorded discovering a mysterious upright door in the middle of a derelict building by her boyfriend, Brian (Stephen Beavis). Upon finding the mysterious door shown in the footage, the two relocate it to their apartment in the hopes that it will bring them closer to finding Emily’s whereabouts; as it turns out, this is no normal doorway, but rather a portal to infinite, seemingly randomized alternate dimensions – and, unfortunately for any poor souls who find themselves on the other side of the door, many of these worlds are home to horrors with a taste for interdimensional tourists.

Hostile Dimensions is a film which wears its influences on its sleeve – explicit references to “The Backrooms” and Danielewski’s mind-bending House of Leaves can be spotted in the background throughout – yet a lot of what Hughes does here feels groundbreaking in the world of indie film nonetheless. As with many “multiverse movies”, it’s a high-concept romp grounded through a focus on human drama, and it helps that Sam and Ash make for believable and sympathetic leads in the midst of all the cosmic chaos. In the case of the latter, it’s great to see a non-binary character feature so prominently in a UK genre film like this, especially in a story which unquestioningly and casually presents them without delving into tokenism and the all-too-common tropes of trans depiction from cisgender filmmakers.

However, viewers shouldn’t come to Hostile Dimensions expecting a new masterpiece of eldritch, liminal horror, because that isn’t really what Hughes is doing here. Though it may contain some effective horror imagery (including a fantastic “last broadcast” sequence filmed on a cheap ‘90s camcorder), and the film premiered at FrightFest back in 2023, Hostile Dimensions is primarily a funny, light-hearted trek through the multiverse that just happens to have grand, and occasionally grotesque, ambitions. By the end of the film, viewers will almost certainly be left wanting more – though whether that’s down to us not seeing enough of the film’s world(s) in its ridiculously short 77 minute runtime. Or whether it’s because the movie is so full of fun concepts and set-pieces that it leaves audiences craving more of what it already brought, is an area where your mileage may decidedly vary. One thing’s for sure, though – you’d be hard-pressed not to be charmed by the sheer amount of effort which clearly went into making this deeply impressive little indie feature.

Give in to your curiosity just this once, and enter the doorway to Hostile Dimensions – you might just find what you’ve been searching for.

Robyn’s Archive – Hostile Dimensions