In the dense woods of Glen Spey, three people step through a glowing portal. This is the defining image of filmmaker Mike Hayhurst’s first feature film, And Through The Portal We Go. He had only nine days, nine crew members, and a microbudget to make his ideas a reality.
The film follows the last three members of a cult, Katie, Craig, and Mikey, left behind as all the other members have “transcended” by going through a portal in the woods. This portal, for some reason, does not work for our main characters, and they become trapped reliving the same day with other cult members who annoy them, whether through badly brewed coffee or constant criticism. The film is a surreal comedy, with hints of genuine character drama, that works due to the engaging performances, despite its evidently small budget.
Hayhurst is a UK native who moved to New York 16 years ago. Hayhurst and his wife Allison, producer of the film, own the house in the Catskills the movie was filmed in. “For the film, we were looking at those locations that really spoke to us and [the Hudson Valley] stuck out,” says Hayhurst. “It’s been a real homecoming for this to be my first feature film.”
The house, constructed in the 1960s, was turned over to their production designer, Marcie Mars, to transform into the hippie cult headquarters. She brought in new fabrics, furnishings, and decorations to give the house a minimalistic style.
Mars took inspiration from the Netflix documentary “Wild Wild Country”, a series that focused on the cult led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in an isolated ranch in Oregon in the early 1980s. There is also inspiration from millennial aesthetics, using cliches such as avocado toast and cold brew coffee. “We were scouring estate sales and flea markets around Sullivan County and Orange County for warm, inviting, natural fabrics,” says Hayhurst.
Using his own house as a set was one way Hayhurst found to cut costs. He had to be creative to ensure their limited $50,000 budget could stretch to make a feature. “We came up with this time loop concept because it would mean we only had one costume, one set, and we could keep reusing things,” says Hayhurst. “There was the practical side of it as well as the creative.”
The couple stayed with their fellow crewmembers, spending the days they were filming exploring Glen Spey together. “There’s something about being in the place where you’re creating the work,” says Hayhurst, “you really do absorb that energy.” He describes the experience as similar to film camp, creating a sense of camaraderie and teamwork.
The film stars Joseph Lymous, Sarah Goeke, and Taylor Dalton Curtis as the cult members. A majority of the dialogue was improvised for the film and each actor has a co-writer credit. “Collaboration was the key thing right from the beginning,” says Hayhurst. “Making a film on this budget level in nine days is super hard. So why not surround yourself with people who inspire you through their work?”
While filming took nine days, post production was 18 months, with the film premiering at the Gig Harbor Film Festival in 2024. Hayhurst edited the film himself over a year. The score, visual effects, color grading were added to complete the movie.
The film is available to stream now, two years after its initial release. Distributing a feature length film was a new process for the director, and the upfront fees were a challenge to pay with a microbudget feature. The film was eventually distributed by Film Hub, who released it on their streaming platform Relay, and also on Amazon Prime.
Hayhurst is currently editing his second feature film, a buddy comedy set in the apocalypse, and is working on ideas for his third. “I would like to get back to Sullivan County, get some of that landscape,” says Hayhurst. “It’s just very inspiring to be there. Another idea is not far away.”
