Debapriya Bhattacharya
Directed by Philip Koch, ‘Brick‘ follows Tim (Matthias Schweighofer) and Olivia (Ruby O. Fee), a couple in a strained relationship who find themselves trapped inside their apartment with a black metallic wall built overnight with odd-shaped bricks outside their doors and windows. The water and WiFi stop working, and their attempt to drill through the barrier yields no result. Desperate to escape, they break down the wall they share with the next door to find a terrified Marvin (Frederick Lau) and Ana (Salber Lee Williams). Working as a team, they discover more inhabitants of the building similarly, and attempt to smash through the floorboards to find a way to escape. The German pseudo-philosophical thriller on Netflix is a quintessential escape-room flick that promises to be an engaging watch. If you are in search of more from the genre, here is a curated list of movies similar to ‘Brick’ that you can consider for your next stream.
10. The Divide (2012)
Directed by Xavier Gens, ‘The Divide’ takes place in New York City as it faces a devastating nuclear attack. Nine strangers in an apartment building take shelter in their bunker-like basement to save themselves. With little hope of escape, the group gets divided as individuals fight for greater control. Soon, armed soldiers in hazmat suits break into the room and assault them, even abducting a woman. This leads them to band together to fight for survival, despite the lack of trust in their hearts. Like the characters in ‘Brick,’ the group in the divide finds themselves cut off from the outside world and desperate to escape.
9. The Platform (2019)
Originally titled ‘El hoyo,’ Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s ‘The Platform’ is set in the Vertical Self-Management Center, an industrial tower to house criminals across different floors. Food is provided to the inmates by a platform that gradually descends through the tower, stopping at each floor for a fixed amount of time. At the start, the platform is loaded with food, and those on the top floor can partake as much as they want. Whatever remains moves down to the next floor. As a result, the inmates in the lower floors find themselves with less food to eat, leading to conflict within the structure. Similar to ‘Brick,’ the film showcases the struggles of people locked together who are forced to participate in a psychological experiment.
8. The Killing Room (2009)
Helmed by Jonathan Liebesman, ‘The Killing Room’ centers around four individuals who agree to participate in a psychological research study. However, things take a horrific turn as one of them is shot dead, and the others are subjected to brutal torture over the next eight hours. Though they try their best to escape from the hellscape, what awaits them is far more sinister. Much like ‘Brick,’ the movie has strangers locked indoors together in a structure controlled by an unknown entity.
7. Circle (2015)
Written and directed by Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione, ‘Circle’ revolves around 50-odd individuals who wake up to find themselves standing around a black dome in a darkened room, arranged in two concentric circles. Each person occupies a specific position in the room, and is decimated by a laser beam when they try to flee or act out of order. Even when they keep standing in place, one of them is executed at random every two minutes. When the remaining people discover that they can vote for who dies next using hand gestures, tension flares among them. As with the characters in ‘Brick,’ those trapped in the ‘Circle’ have no idea of how they came to be in their current situation.
6. Exam (2009)
With Stuart Hazeldine at the helm, ‘Exam’ opens with eight candidates appearing for an employment assessment test at a company named Biorg. They are seated at individual desks in the same room, each with a paper with the word “candidate” followed by a number between one and eight printed on it. The invigilator explains that they have to finish the test by answering a single question and following three rules. The candidates are not allowed to spoil the paper, leave the room, or speak with the invigilator or the armed guard at the door. However, with no visible question in front of them, the situation soon turns chaotic. The exam turns into a deadly trap for all the candidates, who find themselves imprisoned, much like the situation of the people in ‘Brick.’
5. Escape Room (2019)
Adam Robitel’s directorial ‘Escape Room’ follows six strangers in Chicago who are invited by the company Minos to participate in an escape room challenge for a $10,000 prize. Everyone seemingly has a good time at the beginning, until they realize that they are trapped in a sadistic game of life and death. As the players struggle to survive, they realize that the games have been customized to break down each individual psychologically. Much like ‘Brick,’ their only chance of coming out of the ordeal alive is to force an escape.
4. Fermat’s Room (2007)
Written and directed by Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña, ‘Fermat’s Room’ tells the story of four brilliant mathematicians who are brought together at an abandoned warehouse with the promise of being allowed to solve a great enigma. They are forbidden to reveal their identities to each other, and are given pseudonyms after historical mathematicians and philosophers, Galois, Hilbert, Olivia, and Pascal. The individual who brings them together introduces himself as Fermat and soon leaves the warehouse, citing an emergency. The four are then provided with increasingly complex numerical riddles to solve as the walls literally close in around them. As in ‘Brick,’ the characters race against time to discover why they have been set up and find an escape.
3. Breathing Room (2008)
‘Breathing Room’ by John Suits and Gabriel Cowan centers around Tonya Mane (Ailsa Marshall), a young woman who finds herself locked in a room with 13 strangers. Not knowing where they are or how they got here, they are collectively forced to participate in a twisted game, which has them hunting for clues scattered in the room. As the game progresses, they are informed that there will be only one winner, and the prize will be that person’s life. The players become desperate for escape, similar to the neighbors in ‘Brick.’
2. House of 9 (2005)
Helmed by Steven R. Monroe, ‘House of 9’ revolves around nine strangers who have been abducted and locked inside a house. A voice identifying itself as the Watcher informs them that they are brought together to play a game. The last person to remain alive will be allowed to leave the house, as well as win five million dollars for the ordeal. While the individuals initially work as a group to figure out a way of escape, much like in ‘Brick,’ the situation soon descends into chaos as people confront the reality of their lives being at stake.
1. Cube (1997)
Directed by Vincenzo Natali, ‘Cube’ opens with several strangers waking up to find themselves trapped in cubic cells, with no memory of how they got here in the first place. The cells are linked to one another by hatches, through which five strangers get together. Among them is former cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), scientist Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), young mathematician Leaven (Nicole de Boer), escape artist Rennes (Wayne Robson), autistic savant Kazan (Andrew Miller), and architect Worth (David Hewlett). Working together, they attempt to escape captivity, which is further complicated by the presence of deadly traps in some cubes.
Many parallels can be drawn between the narratives of ‘Cube’ and ‘Brick,’ with both films focusing on strangers who suddenly find themselves trapped inside a structure. With no clue as to how and why they are trapped, they are left to their collective wits and skills to come up with an escape plan. Both groups are completely disconnected from the outside world and have no idea of what lies in wait. Nevertheless, escape seems to be the only option for them to survive.
Read More: Brick Ending Explained: Where Did the Wall Come From?
