This submit comprises spoilers for Netflix’s “Brick.”
When horror tales are confined to a single location, each emotion is intensified. The visceral worry of being trapped in a confined house is usually a gateway for nice scares, particularly when the characters understand there isn’t any straightforward method out. The psychological implications of single-location horror are multifold, as such tales are in a position to discover character motivations in contexts that on a regular basis conditions not often afford. The related tropes that include them — twist reveals, cabin fever-induced confusion, and the human intuition to beat not possible odds — solely make the expertise that a lot sweeter. Netflix’s new escape room thriller, “Brick,” tries to dwell as much as these expectations, but it surely would not arrive at any groundbreaking conclusions through the course of. However, it is a movie price testing.
If we take a fast have a look at Netflix’s weekly High 10 films within the U.S., “Brick” is sitting in third place in the mean time, proper behind the explosively widespread animated movie “KPop Demon Hunters” (by way of FlixPatrol). This excessive rating appears well-deserved, although; “Brick” has an intriguing premise and delivers a lot of twists and turns, all whereas difficult viewers to placed on their considering caps and determine the answer together with the film’s characters. Author/director Philip Koch situates the story’s horror within the consolation of your own home: What would occur when you woke as much as uncover all your condo constructing’s exits had been sealed by large, magnetized partitions that don’t seem to budge? Calling for outdoor assist is not an possibility right here, because the enclosed house is now off-the-grid, having been severed from the web and all cellphone connections. However whereas it is pure nightmare gasoline, is that setup alone sufficient to maintain this sci-fi thriller?
I am inclined to say no, as “Brick” does little with the claustrophobic urgency inherent to its central idea. And although the plot continues to be intense in bursts, it additionally has an emotional throughline that is too grim for its personal good. Even so, it is price taking a better have a look at what Koch’s flick has to supply.
Brick lays a strong basis, but it surely finally ends up crumbling below its personal weight
Netflix
“Brick” facilities on Tim (Matthias Schweighöfer, whom you would possibly bear in mind from Zack Snyder’s “Military of the Useless” and Schweighöfer’s prequel, “Military of Thieves”), a sport developer who lives along with his girlfriend, Liv (Ruby O. Price). Liv desires to flee the monotony of working lengthy hours at their jobs, so she suggests a stunning journey to Paris, however Tim instantly shuts down the concept on account of being too busy. However simply as tensions rise to the purpose of a possible break-up, Liv discovers an enormous wall blocking their doorway, leaving her and Tim trapped inside their dwelling. Whereas their dynamic continues to be strained, issues instantly get much more severe, because the duo is compelled to work collectively to outlive this example.
When the pair resolve to knock down the partitions separating their place from the neighboring flats in quest of different survivors, “Brick” begins to unravel as a hidden world of twist reveals and soiled secrets and techniques is dropped at gentle. Different characters regularly turn into part of this thriller as properly, together with the eccentric couple Marvin (Frederick Lau) and Ana (Salber Lee Williams), together with Yuri (Murathan Muslu), a tenant who would not need to escape in any respect. Sadly, by the point we be taught what the titular brick actually is and why it instantly determined to envelop this explicit condo constructing, the movie is working on fumes, having exhausted all of its gimmicks. Beneath the layers of a grim story that does not all the time lean into levity, although, there are glimmers of a greater and adrenaline-fueled film. On the entire, although, “Brick” typically feels torpid because of its muddled pacing.
Past the query of what the heck is going on to those characters and the world round them, the movie focuses closely on their shifting allegiances and evolving relationships with each other. The query of survival can also be prolonged to fractured interpersonal dynamics, as we need to know whether or not Tim and Liv can climate this storm and emerge as a stronger couple collectively. Alas, even this emotional side begins to develop weaker because the film progresses, robbing “Brick” of its means to supply some satisfying pay-offs. Nonetheless, general, there are a variety of issues to get pleasure from about this explicit sci-fi/horror escape room film. That mentioned, I urge you to go for the German-language model of the movie, because the English dub leaves lots to be desired.
“Brick” is at the moment streaming on Netflix.
