Parallels

Parallels is a 2015 American science-fiction adventure film, originally conceived as a television pilot, derived from a story by Christopher Leone and Laura Harkcom. Mark Hapka, Jessica Rothe, Eric Jungmann, and Constance Wu star as people who are thrown into alternate Earths that range from subtly different to post-apocalyptic. It was released in March 2015 on the Netflix streaming service. It was announced on November 16, 2016 that Neil Gaiman would be collaborating with Christopher Leone and Albert Kim to adapt the teaser/trailer film into a TV series, titled "The Building". However, to date no further information about the TV series has been released since 2016 and the project appears to have been cancelled. Plot Ronan and Beatrix each receive a message from their father, Alex, who requests they meet him. Curious, they separately converge at their father's house, where they find him missing, though Ronan recovers a strange, ball-shaped device. When Harry, Beatrix's friend, arrives, he joins them in their attempts to locate their father despite Ronan's dislike for him. Harry, a public defender, suggests that they contact the police. However, Captain Stone can offer little help to them, as they have no evidence of wrongdoing. He directs them to the building Alex described and tells them that it is abandoned. The three find the building empty and covered in graffiti that describes alternate timelines and histories. Initially dismissive of the seemingly nonsensical graffiti, they discover that the building has transported them to an alternate Earth devastated by nuclear blasts. When they see a roving patrol shoot down pedestrians, they flee back into the building, where they meet Polly. Polly, a traveler between worlds, explains that the building transports anyone within it to a new, random world if they return to it in exactly 36 hours. In hostile worlds such as the one in which they currently reside, she suggests that they stay inside the building and not interact with the locals. The group sleeps to pass the time. They are woken by an armed patrol, who take them to meet the leader of the local settlement. Polly takes charge and convinces him that they are merely confused travelers. Recognizing Captain Stone as their leader, Harry thanks him for his help. Stone, suddenly distrustful of outsiders who know both his name and former occupation, takes them hostage and orders Tinker, the local surgeon and gadget-man, to interrogate them.