Brick Parent Guide

The past two years have been rough on their marriage, and Olivia (Ruby O. Fee) is almost out of ideas for how to save the relationship with her husband, Tim (Matthias Schweighöfer). Her last attempt, an effort to talk him into packing up and moving to Paris with her, didn’t go anywhere, and she’s decided to leave without him. Except she can’t: sometime in the night, their apartment was been surrounded by an impermeable wall of strange black bricks. Doors, windows, exterior walls – all are wrapped in the mysterious cladding. The water has been disconnected, and the wall has blocked all cell and internet signals.

Tim and Olivia soon learn that although exterior walls can’t be moved, interior walls can be knocked down. When they burst into the apartment next door, they find tourists Marvin (Frederick Lau) and Lea (Sira-Anna Faal), who are similarly trapped. Together, the couples come up with a plan to dig down into the basement, where some old tunnels should connect to an old WWII bomb shelter, which in turn, theoretically, connects to the subway system. But that’s three floors below them, and there’s no telling how the rest of the building’s residents are taking the new restrictions…

Despite some rough patches, I actually enjoyed the film. As usual, the more the premise is explained, the sillier it gets, but I appreciate the movie’s ability to keep me guessing, and originality is something in very short supply these days. Emotional performances from the cast balance out some of the excesses of the script, and the claustrophobic setting keeps the pressure up and the plot moving.

Brick isn’t exactly clean family entertainment, and is really only suitable (and intended for) an adult audience. The biggest issues are the bloody violence and frequent profanity, but there are also elements of a sexual nature and some off-screen drug use – it could definitely be worse, but there’s enough here to keep the kiddies out of the room for this one.

I wouldn’t hold my breath for Brick come awards season, but it falls on the entertaining end of average, and I enjoyed the film’s tension, claustrophobia, and odd plot. For adult genre fans, I’d say it’s worth checking out. You’re paying for Netflix anyway; you might as well see what they’re doing with your money – especially when it isn’t another sequel or remake.

About author

Keith Hawkes

Keith Hawkes graduated from Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada with a degree in English and History. His interests are movies, American literature, science fiction, almost every kind of music, and museums. He enjoys criticizing films for fun - although he's okay with being paid for it.