Film: Brick
Cast: Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee, Frederick Lau, Salber Lee Williams, Sira-Anna Faal, Axel Werner, Murathan Muslu
Writer/Director: Philip Koch
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 95 min
A high concept horror relationship drama from Germany ‘Brick’ is a film that not everyone may get. The film lacks in terms of writing and budget and the concept plays out in gimmicky fashion rather than becoming anything meaningful. This film could be categorised as a science fiction thriller with its dystopian world building concept.
Writer-director Philip Koch seemingly sets out to create a relationship drama based on a concept that wouldn’t make sense in the real world. It is imaginary and works towards egging people on to break down psychological walls and maintain facilitative cordial, communicative relations with family, friends and neighbors.
What would you do if one day you wake up and find your apartment building surrounded by a brick wall?
Olivia (Ruby O. Fee) and Tim (Matthias Schweighöfer) are going through a rough patch in their relationship. They are a young couple who are still trying to recover from a tragic experience. Liv has quit her job as an architect and wants to leave Hamburg and drive to Paris, but Tim refuses. When she gets ready to leave by herself the next morning, she finds herself confronted by an impenetrable wall.
Tim is a video game developer, who is too occupied at work and unwilling to take time-off. So they are already at an impasse. Tensions reach a boiling point when they find themselves trapped by the mysterious, unbreakable wall. The duo and their neighbors Ana (Salber Lee Williams), Marvin (Frederick Lau), Lea (Sira-Anna Faal), Oswalt (Axel Werner) and Yuri (Murathan Muslu) have to find a way out. There’s no water supply and communication with the outside world is impossible. Panic, fear, desperation set in…
Frankly it’s hard relating to a couple whose problems are imaginary rather than real. As Olivia and Tim break down walls we get to know the intimate details of their personal dilemma. As they go through different levels more and more details about their conflicts keep tumbling out. Do they have the same objectives they started out with or are their individual paths going to diverge? Feelings are explored but you don’t really experience their weight. The writer-director throws in some red herrings to spice up matters. There’s also a time when everyone’s loyalty to each other gets tested.
There’s nothing much to hook you because their problems feel too commonplace. The dialogue doesn’t convey any depth either. The performances are competent but nothing affecting here. The dramatic tension flags, the pace is inconsistent, and tedious stretches of dialogue involving supporting characters get your goat.
Koch is efficient enough as director but the writing feels a little lame. There’s a little bit of action and some horror elements are incorporated too but nothing remarkable about it. The film`s compositions and background score give the audience something to work with. Anna Drubich, Martina Eisenreich and Michael Kadelbach compose a score that augments the oppressive mood. Anna Ficus` production design manages to make the designs look credible. There’s a message being conveyed here – that all relationships need work and if you have committed to one then you can’t shirk the responsibility of communicating with each other to iron out the chinks. But the message falls on deaf ears because there’s nothing really interesting in the film to hold your attention. This film about people trapped within a confined space might have worked if it wasn’t so gamey and unreal. At 95 min it is short enough to be imminently forgettable.
