Portrait of God (Short Horror Film)

A religious girl prepares a presentation about a painting titled "Portrait of God". What she sees challenges her beliefs.

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Ryan’s Instagram: @ryanshreves

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Andrew Caffrey's Instagram: @tsar_andrew

[talltaleradio]

Damn, man! This was so well done! I am so happy to have been a tiny part of it, and I'm sending this to everyone I know! Creepy, understated, powerful!

[MrTony-rxtk]

The thing that disturbed me the most wasn’t the creature itself, but the shot of her timer running for over 3 hours. That just really got to me for some reason

[Zan]

One of the best tactics in horror movies is when the monster is barely visible, just visible enough to tell you it exists and its closer than you think. Love what you did here

[Mindboggles]

THIS, THIS IS THE KIND OF HORROR I WANT. The pure, psychological cosmic dread building and building. Not a single loud noise jumpscare, truly an expertly crafted piece of art.

[wizardiron]

The fact that it was behind her the whole time she didn't see it, but then disappeared for us to see it in the screen gives me goosebumps

[Olivia-oxjw]

Shoutout on this actress by the way, not easy to have yourself be the only actor in something, putting all that pressure of tension and delivery on you. She did great!

[moralfuxery]

This is the type of horror that only a short film can capture. You couldn't make this into a movie, it's strength lies in its shortness.

[pelagie]

You can see two shiny dots in the back when she’s playing the recording about his eyes. Perfect. He’s always there

[thegregitto]

I think when it comes to horror, God and the divine are by far the most compelling focus. There's so much eeriness and dread around death, and moreso, what lies beyond it. How little we know. There's also a lot of inherent pathos when it comes to the divine and god, but again, that's tied into our innate fear of the unknown.

[blankarozinka]

i swear to god, some short youtube horror movies are better and have more meaning than a lot of whole horror movies. good job.

[uninterestedYam]

I am obsessed with that exact moment where she's no longer grateful for being able to see him but instead starts to fear him. This is an awesome short film

[jasonbond]

I love that last fraction of a second when her mouth starts forming into a smile. It cuts away too early to see the full expression manifest, but we know that the terror she felt a moment ago has now turned into joy. Somehow that is one of the creepiest parts to me. She goes from joy to fear and back to joy. Is it truly god, and once she looks into the light and realizes it she is filled with joy and feels affirmed in her believe, honored he showed himself to her? Or is this something else, a demon who just wanted her to feel save and is now going to haunt her? Or maybe through the light the demon has taken control of her and this is it’s smile as it now won?

There are a lot of ways one can interpret the smile, and we are left in the dark as to what it actually means. I love that. Ultimately, this hint of a smile at the end is so creepy because it is so unrelatable. We could understand it if it ended with her being terrified. But the fact that she isn’t anymore means something within her changed that we cannot understand. The only way we could, is if we experienced it ourselves. And this is where the curiosity takes over. If this painting existed, would I want to see it’s true form?

[snw]

the way they hid the entity at 1:48 at left side is amazing

[ian]

Without jumpscares, without gore, without screaming... you made one of the best horror movies/short films. congrats

[LoneCommentWanderer]

Considering that even some angels are aware of their frightening appearance and ask us not to be afraid, the possibility of God being equally bizarre the first time is great.

[DuelTwilightChaser]

It's honestly well done cause it's scary but not disrespectful. Nothing in the video says the entity is evil its just scary looking. It even slowly appears and takes its time to show her itself and shows her light to comfort her. Even in the bible it says be not afraid to concept of a easy on the eyes look is a human one so God showing himself in a scary way to see if someone would still have faith and love isnt a bad concept. Even if hes scary hes still benevolent and loving and still God.

[GrayCatbird]

This puts the concept of God back in its place, it feels to me. We like to imagine God as someone who’s “at our level”, when in truth a being so powerful, omnipotent and omnipresent is unspeakably, inconceivably alien to us. It doesn’t mean God is evil, but it does mean they would be incomprehensible… perhaps even terrifying. Lovecratian to perfection.

[Anon]

That ending was perfect- no cheap jumpscare, no "boom" sound as we cut to black, just a silence that speaks for itself as it ends. I wish other horror directors had this level of restraint!

[willd.]

This is one of the only times "it was all in their head" actually hit for me. Probably because 1. it's not actually defined whether it WAS in her head or not, and 2. it fits the THEME of the painting being a "religious experience" and isn't just a cheap cop-out. It ADDS to the story rather than detracts from it.

[multidigitunhengedmigit]

We like to portray god as a human like figure but in the end we really dont know what he looks like