One of my favorite sci-fi microgenres ever is “people get trapped in a home and have to figure their way out.” It can be played for eeriness like in Vivarium, for gore like in pretty much all the Saw movies, or for a sci-fi slasher like Await Further Instrucions. Trapping any people in their homes is an instant way to build suspense and terror, but if you add an otherworldly force on the outside, things get a lot more interesting.
Netflix is the latest streamer to take on this premise with Brick, written and directed by Philip Koch and starring Matthias Schweighöfer, a close collaborator with Zack Snyder from Army of the Dead and Army of Thieves. With a dwindling-party plot and a mystery full of clues, it’s far more enjoyable than its often paint-by-numbers exposition and direction.
