Horror Short Review: Portrait of God (2022)

One of the best horror shorts released this year, Portrait of God comes from writer and director Dylan Clark. It stars Sydney Brumfield, Dylan Clark and William J Clark.

No man shall see me and live – Exodus 33:20.

A young religious woman named Mia is preparing a presentation based around a painting that is said to be a portrait of God. Take a moment to look at it. What do you see? If it’s nothing but black, don’t worry, that’s what the majority of people see. Yet there are some who claim to see a figure with the blackness. Each person describing it in similar fashion.

Are they really seeing God? Mia wants to believe so. Her faith relies on it, it seems. Stare as hard as she might though, it still remains black. Or does it?

This is a horror short that stays with you long afterwards. Not just because of its artistic style but because it is genuinely frightening. Dealing with a mystery that no-one has an answer to and twisting it into something horrific. The beautification of God has left most picturing the being as benevolent but what if it was something else?

The horror short is very clever, very disturbing and wraps up with a delightfully dark ending.