Cast: (As part of the audio description track, we have a voice cast in place of the original actors, and often that information is not made available)

Written By:Phillip Koch

directed By: Phillip Koch

Original Score By:Anna Drubich, Martina Eisenreich, and Michael Kadelbach

release Year: 2025

Studio/Streamer: Netflix

Rated: TV-MA

Runtime: 99 minutes

Country Of Origin: Germany

Audio Description Produced by: Descriptive Video Works

Written by:

Narrated By: Synthetic Voice

What Is It: Brick is a high-concept thriller set within an apartment complex where the residents wake up to find their building has been surrounded by a seemingly impervious wall. the residents must dig and smash their way through the apartments in an effort to unite together and try and figure out a way out of their situation… if there is one.

What Works: it is a high concept indeed. I didn’t ever quite understand the apartment complex, as it seemed like there should be more people, not just to the left or right, or up or down, but also behind. Wouldn’t they have someone behind them as well, or instead some windows? But, it is a pretty simple concept that catches your attention, and is played to strong effect. There’s a fair amount of tension, and while you never quite get all the answers, it seems to introduce such an intriguing mystery that would work well in a sequel. It also is the kind of concept I could easily see being remade with an English speaking cast here in the states. It isn’t so perfect that it feels like a remake is blasphemous, like Amelie or Bicycle Thieves, but instead something that a better director could actually tweak and improve upon. Take David Fincher, for example, who did a great work with Panic Room, or even a more horror minded director interested in building out characters only to see them disappear slowly through the film, like Scott Derrickson. The strength is in the concept.

What Doesn’t Work: it almost leaves too much unanswered, without the promise of a Part II. People looking for closure won’t quite get all the answers. 10 Cloverfield Lane basically had a similar premise about being trapped in a location, but it knew we needed to see the outside world to know why things were the way they were. Here, you don’t really get that substantial glimpse and answers as to what is on the other side of the wall. Also, it can be rather silly. As an example, two of the residents find out the wall is magnetized, so they proceed to put their silverware against the wall. As an offering? For fun? It makes sense to try and break the wall, but laying spoons and forks against it only served to prove why they shouldn’t do that. Also, for residents of apartments, they have a lot of tools at their disposal, which is odd since you usually can’t make significant changes to walls. Why do they need these tools for any other reason than to advance the plot?

The Audio Description: it was a disappointment, to be honest. I know I live in a world where I have to accept TTS audio description on some level. Here, this is a random international title from Netflix, and it feels like it was either this, or no accessibility. I’ve been supporting these films because Netflix still seems to skip out on audio description for International films of consequence, like Alfonso Cuaron’s Best Picture nominee Roma, which still lacks an English Audio Description track, or fellow Oscar nominees Bardo and Il Conde. But, I expect this voice to be retired. It feels like one of the earlier TTS voices, and we’ve gotten a lot more human options. For example, Netflix’s Secrets We Keep had a voice I could live with. this has a voice that sounds super fake, the audio ducking is worse than usual, and it actually tramples some dialogue. Granted, the dialogue it does trample are often interjectory statements like “Stop!” Or “Wait!”, but the way the sound is balanced, it truly is hard to hear. the balance just is really not great for a 2025 release. I’ve become accustomed to Descriptive Video Works making excellent content, and this is a rare misfire from them. That being said, it does describe what is on screen rather well. The actual written text is not inconsequential, rather it is just fed through a really gross voice, that isn’t aligned properly, and is poorly mixed. This could have been great if just a few different choices could have been made.

Why You Might Like it: It’s a tight thriller with a small cast, and it paces well. the high concept does present a film that certainly doesn’t feel extraordinarily derivative of other things, and there certainly are worse ways to waste your time. It isn’t really gory either,though it has a few select moments. mostly, it is a thriller more than a horror. And you might enjoy trying to unpack the mystery.

Why you Might Not Like it: the audio description track is grating, and you’ll be left with unanswered questions. it is high concept, but low resolution. Perhaps a part two is on the way. And while the film isn’t specifically horror, characters seem to often make terrible life choices like disposable characters in a horror movie. And even though most of the description is written well, it isn’t without its faults. one memorable moment has our first couple drilling a hole to see into their neighbors apartment. Later, they make the hole bigger, but you don’t realize just how much bigger until they walk through it. All of that from a little drill.

Fresh: 6.2/10