The Otherworld Paradox
| The Otherworld Paradox | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Antonio H. Blake |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Guiomar Albuquerque |
| Edited by | Prudenzia Vellucci |
| Music by | Noa Gusmão |
Release dates |
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Running time | 132 minutes |
| Country | Vitosium |
| Language | English |
The Otherworld Paradox is a 2021 Vitosian horror film directed by the legendary Antonio H. Blake and written by Miguelito Gouveia and Rosalia Barboza. The film sees twelve people trapped in an apartment building desperately trying to find a way out while dealing with supernatural forces that want them dead.
Cast
Plot
Malcolm Medeiros, an accountant, wakes up in his apartment. Confused and dazed, he thought he had booked a room in a hotel. Shrugging off what he believed to be a dream, he tried to go about his morning routine but found that the taps and shower did not work. Annoyed, he decided to go ask the supervisor, Paul, as he wasn't warned of anything. In the lobby, though, he saw eleven others, who turned towards him.
"That makes twelve of us," spoke the repairman, Joseph.
Malcolm asks if they are all here to speak with Paul, the supervisor, about the water being turned off. While Anthony, Alina and Sofia all say that they were planning to talk to him, the others note that they don't even live in the building. He introduces himself to the nice, inhibited nurse, Alina Camara, the withdrawn hermit from a good family, Anthony Barbosa, the optomistic baseball player, Braeden Alves, the courageous but negative heir to Ramos Industries, Carlotta Ramos, the arrogant repairman with big dreams, Joseph Couto, the psychiatrist who can't resist helping people, Maci Camara, the paranoid doctor, Michaela Batista, the clumsy university professor, Natalia Moura, the model forced into her occupation, Sofia Rosa, the peace-loving war veteran, Telmo Veitao and the sarcastic journalist, Wilson Vidal.
"We all woke up here not that long ago," stated the journalist, Wilson. "The front door's locked and we've tried breaking the windows."
Joseph then approaches Maci saying that he really needs a therapy session with her right now. Maci, put off, says that it's not a good time as they need to figure out how to leave. Joseph then becomes hysterical, scaring Maci and leading the others to restrain him. They all decide to lock Joseph in the office until they can figure out how to escape. Maci mentions that Joseph is a regular patient at her office. Michaela then says that, as she can't trust anybody except for Alina, the two of them will find a way out themselves. Alina feels like they can trust the others but Michaela is aggressive with her, leading Alina to follow Dr. Batista down the hall.
Eventually, the remaining nine split up into groups of three lead by a resident of the building (Anthony, Malcolm and Sofia). When Anthony's group finds a plaque in the recreation room, they get Malcolm and Sofia's groups to join them where they discuss what is on said plaque.
An atrocity befallen, culpable were those not contrite.
I inquire for my mind and heart to come upon closure.
To the liable, penance is my condition.
To the liable, shame be your facet.
To the liable, you shall rest.
Once your penitence cracks asunder, only then will the gates open.
While Sofia thinks that it's a cruel joke and Telmo blames millennials, Braeden thinks that this plaque doesn't mean anything and is just related to one of the people that inspired the building. Everybody is now in agreeance that either Braeden is right or somebody is just pranking them.
As time goes on, the nine left to explore the building are annoyed that no staff are in the building with some thinking that they are being recorded. Sofia and Anthony soon grow annoyed at Carlotta's condescending behaviour, leading to an argument between the three. Maci heads to the office door and tells Joseph that she will let him out if he remains calm. When Joseph promises to do so, she lets him out.
Later, they all sit in the lobby and discuss their lives on the outside. Joseph has huge dreams about being an actor, Carlotta says that she is the proud heir of a manufacturing conglomerate, Maci says that she got into psychiatry to help others after all the support she's had in her life and Sofia mentions being forced into modelling at a young age due to her mother. Eventually, everybody gets hungry and decides to look around for food. When Natalia is jumpscared by something, she screams and runs down the hall, alerting the others. Natalia then runs into Michaela and Alina. While Alina is worried about her, Michaela berates Natalia and tells her to grow up.
Malcolm, Joseph and Carlotta are knocking on all the doors on the second floor with no answer. Joseph starts to believe that this is all a dream as there is no way any of this is real. With this mindset, he starts breaking down a door. Malcolm tries to stop him but Carlotta says that what Joseph is doing is a great idea. Malcolm tries to stop Carlotta but eventually gives up and storms off.
He meets up with Telmo, who briefly talks about his experiences in the war and then compares the paranoia everybody has to starting a war amongst themselves. Malcolm notes how calm he is, which Telmo responds by saying that he isn't actually calm but acting irrational won't do any good. Natalia joins them and the three of them go to where Natalia saw a "creature" but they don't see anything. They hear Carlotta shriek in terror and run towards her to find that Joseph
has become a bloody mess inside the apartment he broke into. Everybody becomes hysterical and rushes towards the lobby where they inform Anthony, Sofia and Wilson. Eventually, Alina, Braeden, Maci and Michaela join them and are shocked to learn of Joseph's murder. Everybody begins to yell accusations at each-other, culminating in Carlotta getting the blame due to her being a few doors down from the crime scene. Anthony then remembers the plaque in the recreational room and
suggests that whatever trapped them in here took Joseph. Nobody believes him except for Natalia, who says that she saw something earlier. Michaela then suggests that Anthony and Natalia both conspired to off Joseph. This leads to an even bigger argument that ultimately splits up the remaining eleven into groups, although, to be safe, Carlotta is locked in the office.
Later, it becomes night-time. The group of Anthony, Maci, Malcolm and Natalia are in Malcolm's apartment, the pair of Alina and Michaela are in Alina's apartment and the group of Braeden, Sofia, Telmo and Wilson are in the rec room. Wilson, feeling like Carlotta wasn't responsible or that it may have been self-defense, wants to ask her about what she saw and heads towards the lobby. Once he heads into the lobby, though, he stumbles upon a room of cubicles from the newspaper company he works for. Confused, he explores and finds an article about an accident he wrote five years ago but the name of the person who died has been erased. Just then, he hears something is chased by a horrifying monster until he is torn apart by it. Back in the hotel lobby, Wilson's body has been strewn onto the walls with Carlotta having witnessed what happened from the office window.
In the morning, everybody is horrified to see what happened. They all come to the conclusion that, since Carlotta was locked up, she couldn't have done it. Once free from the office, Carlotta, hysterical, tells everybody what happened, that Wilson was alone in the lobby when a monster approached him from behind and killed him. This scares Anthony and Natalia. Carlotta begins to hyper-ventilate but Maci helps calm her down and suggests they all don't enter the lobby anymore.
In Anthony's apartment, Anthony tells Maci, Malcolm, Sofia and Telmo that he turned his back on his family years ago and misses them greatly, especially now. He is afraid to die before apologizing to them. He says that he became a shut-in after moving here but what happened to Joseph and Wilson has made him appreciate his family, even with their troubles and constant fighting. In Alina's apartment, Michaela constantly berates her for being soft on the others. Alina, though, says that she can't help it and says that helping people is why she became a nurse. Michaela says that the more she wants to help, the bigger a chance she will die and, when that time comes, she won't help her. Alina, shocked, breaks down.
What follows are a few jumpscares that scare Anthony, Carlotta, Michaela, Sofia and Telmo. Everybody meets up in the recreational room where they discuss what they saw. At this point, everybody believes that something is after them, leading to Michaela to throw out accusations and becoming very hysterical. Alina and Maci try to calm her down but she hits Maci over the head with an end table and forces Alina to come with her. Anthony, Malcolm and Telmo try to stop her from taking Alina but Michaela grabs a knife from the connected kitchen and threatens to kill her if she comes close. Natalia approaches her slowly trying to calm her down but ends up stabbed to death while Michaela flees down the hall with a scared Alina.
In Alina's apartment, Michaela, still hysterical, smashes many things in the apartment and downright yells at Alina for getting her fired. She said that she will spend the rest of her life atoning for that.