Brick Review: This Would-Be Promising Trapped-in-a-Puzzle-Box Sci-Fi Thriller Hits a Dead End
Earlier in the movie Brick, writer-director Philip Koch gets off to a solid start, addressing the conflict between Matthias Schweighöfer’s frequently occupied game programmer Tim and his estranged architect wife, Olivia (Ruby O. Fee). Their relationship has been hanging on by a thread. Tim particularly prefers to bury himself with work rather than spending meaningful time with his wife. The latter at least attempt to mend their broken marriage, suggesting they should go on a road trip after she quit her job and bought a pink van.
And yet, Tim finds his work is more important than fulfilling her wish, a clear sign that he refuses to open up and move on past the painful loss, which has to do with Olivia’s miscarriage. Then, as if their struggle isn’t frustrating enough, they soon find themselves stuck in their apartment building. Olivia had had enough of him and wanted to pack up and leave, but there was a mysterious, monochrome brick wall that completely sealed off the front door. Not just a typical brick wall, but rather unusually solid material that not even an architect like Olivia can tell what it is.
They even discovered that all their doors and windows within their apartment have been enclosed by the same brick walls. They try everything from banging to using a power drill in an attempt to make a hole, but nothing works. They also attempt to get help from the outside, but zero phone signal and no WiFi connection whatsoever.
For a while there, the story intrigues me, reminding me of the like-minded trapped-in-the-puzzle-box concept seen in Cube and Escape Room. Why is their apartment being bricked up? Is there something bad going on outside the apartment? Some of these questions and more have made Tim and Olivia grow increasingly frustrated while trying to make sense of everything that’s been going on so far. Desperation kicks in as they make full use of the power drill tunnelling through the walls of their neighbours’ apartment.
From there, more characters are introduced, beginning with the drug-addicted young couple Marvin (Frederick Lau) and Ana (Salber Lee Williams) and later, a sick elderly Oswalt (Axel Werner) and his caring granddaughter, Lea (Sira-Anna Faal). Then, there’s the policeman Yuri (Murathan Muslu) who somehow has a hidden agenda. Tim and Olivia, along with the rest of the neighbours they have come across, are looking for a way out down below.
So, Schweighöfer and O. Fee did their best to play a struggling married couple, while the earlier moments boast plenty of potential that takes place in a single location. Walls are drilled, floors are smashed using a sledgehammer, allowing the camera to move up and down through the gaping holes. But as the movie progresses, Koch botches the opportunity to delve deeper into the mystery behind the brick walls. The biggest problem of this movie is Koch’s ill-fated decision to take it too seriously to the point that it feels dour.
The would-be dramatic tension regularly flags rather than raises the stakes. Not to mention the movie is mostly hampered by tedious stretches of supporting characters arguing at each other or having their own — and frankly, dull — backstories, which further drags the momentum. It doesn’t help either when the supporting characters are largely forgettable, leaving Schweighöfer and O. Fee’s above-average performances shoulder most of the burden here.
The movie may have clocked in at just 99 minutes, but the erratic pace makes it feel longer, and my interest in finding out what’s really going on has waned even before it reaches its end. Koch does attempt to pick up the pace towards the climactic third act, only to be disappointed by a rather underwhelming finale.
Brick is currently streaming on Netflix.
