THE GATEWAY (2018) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

the gateway (2018) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   90 minutes

Released         |   3 May 2018

cast

Jacqueline McKenzie as Jane
Myles Pollard as Matt
Shannon Berry as Samantha

director

John V. Soto

writer

​John V. Soto
Michael White

cinematographer

​David Le May

music

Thomas Rouch

film editor

Regg Skwarko

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box office result

Worldwide               $? million

Australia                 $? million

North America        $? million

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the best dialogue

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THE GATEWAY (2018) MOVIE IMAGES

THE GATEWAY (2018) STORY SYNOPSIS

​A particle physicist grieving over the loss of her husband in a car crash uses a revolutionary machine to bring him back, with dire consequences for her family.

THE GATEWAY (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 1 May 2018
Pop ​Movee Rating ⭐⭐

John V. Soto’s time hopping, universe bending THE GATEWAY shoots for something akin to James Cameron’s seminal 1984 THE TERMINATOR but lands somewhere around early 1970s DOCTOR WHO…

Also referred to as ALPHA GATEWAY in some overseas markets, the film was shot in the Australian city of Perth and features Jacqueline McKenzie as Jane Chandler, a particle physicist whose work becomes all too personal after the death of her husband in a traffic accident. The story is the work of Soto and prolific novelist Michael White, who - sadly - passed away in early February 2018 at just 58 years of age. 

The film’s production values are its biggest problem. They simply don’t stand up to scrutiny when shown on a large screen format. That’s not a bad thing in itself. Many, much-loved movies and TV shows have suffered from the same “lack of budget”. The difference is those much-loved movies and TV shows were shot back in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Since the mid-1990s, even the most narratively-challenged science fiction and fantasy adventures have been able to compensate with imaginative, well-constructed props and convincing CG visual effects. THE GATEWAY looks regressive by comparison…

John Soto borrows a lot of THE GATEWAY from James Cameron’s 1984 THE TERMINATOR, but he makes an effort to twist his plot into a parallel universe story; as opposed to “the future”. Soto also seems to have borrowed from James Ward Byrkit’s 2014 movie COHERENCE. Where Byrkit’s film uses an astrological phenomenon to open the doorway to alternate realities, Soto goes for some “harder” science in the form of an experimental particle acceleration device that bounces its contents from one parallel dimension to another. It’s an interesting premise and one which has developed a legitimate following within the scientific community as many astronomical theoretical researchers have started to propagate the concept of “Multiverse” as something that may be more than just a Marvel comic book confabulation.

THE GATEWAY’s second half is certainly more compelling than its first, as Soto and White’s story becomes more plot-driven and McKenzie’s Jane Chandler takes matters into hand and starts to play the film’s primary antagonist at his own game…

McKenzie is more-than-credible as Chandler, but she’s letdown by Myles Pollard, who plays alternate versions of her husband Matt. Pollard makes Peter Fonda seem relatively lively by comparison with a performance that is as leaden as it is wooden. The most compelling character in THE GATEWAY is Jane’s scientist colleague Regg, played by Ben Mortley. The film features different versions of Regg and Mortley does an excellent job at providing subtle variation between each. In one version he’s something of an introvert, consumed by the project he’s working on with Jane. In another universe, he’s slightly more confident and has developed feelings for Jane. Given the lacklustre look of the film and the underwhelming performance from Pollard, Soto was lucky the above average performances from both McKenzie and Mortley help to prevent proceedings from degenerating into the worst kind of Sci-Fi schlock.

It’s always hard to review an Australian Science Fiction film and say “It’s bad. Don’t waste your money.” 

In recent years, really strong films like THESE FINAL HOURS (2013), PREDESTINATION (2014), THE ROVER (2014) and INFINI (2015) have shown that Australians can make good Science Fiction movies. THE GATEWAY is not in the same league as these films. It looks cheap. Only McKenzie and Mortley provide mention-worthy performances. It relies on tropes to drive its story…

Despite these shortcomings, John Soto has done something that most Science Fiction movie fans only dream about…

He’s managed to get his Science Fiction story made into a movie and it’s available for anyone (in the world) who’s interested to take the 90 minutes needed to see what he has to offer.

That’s more than most of us can say.

THE GATEWAY (2018) USEFUL LINKS

The Gateway (2018) - IMDb 
​The Gateway (film) - Wikipedia
​The Gateway (2018) - Rotten Tomatoes

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