Netflix’s “Brick” Offers a Muddled Ending That Demands a Sequel

As far as thrillers go, there’s always a certain appeal to watching misfit characters trapped in a confined space. A mystery is introduced, tensions rise, and survival becomes the driving force. Netflix’s new German-language thriller “Brick” tries to tap into this formula with mixed results.

Set almost entirely inside a sealed apartment complex, the film follows Tim (Matthias Schweighöfer of Army of the Dead) and Olivia (Ruby O. Fee of Army of Thieves), a couple still reeling from the loss of their child. While Olivia wants to move forward, Tim retreats into himself, burying his grief in work and isolation.

Olivia desperate to move forward suggests a trip to Paris as a fresh start, hoping to help Tim reconnect with life. But he makes excuses, promising to join her after completing his latest project. The next morning, Olivia decides to leave without him. As she swings the front door openwith Tim behind her they’re met with an eerie surprise: their apartment is completely encased in a mysterious black brick wall.

There’s no way out—doors and windows are sealed, the water stops running, and internet access vanishes. After failed attempts to interact with the strange wall, their only option is to drill holes into neighboring apartments and eventually into the basement in hopes of escape.

In their quest, they encounter wary neighbors Ana (Salber Lee Williams), Marvin (Frederick Lau), Lea (Sira-Anna Faal), Yuri (Murathan Muslu), and Oswalt (Alex Werner), with whom they must work together or not to break free.

Writer-director Philip Koch (of “Play” and “Picco”) effectively captures the rising tension with roving, tilted camera angles, especially during scenes where characters dig through walls and crawl through makeshift tunnels. He also creatively stages the deaths, with Ana’s being the most memorable her hand trapped inside a liquid-like portal in the wall that solidifies and cuts her in half.

Marvin, unable to cope with Ana’s gruesome death, shoots Yuri and then himself, leaving only Tim and Olivia alive.

Unfortunately, the film’s emotional core centered on Tim and Olivia’s grief—fails to deliver. Their reconciliation amidst a life-threatening ordeal never gains traction. Long, meandering conversations about their pain substitute for action, making it difficult to invest in them. Even the flashback to their miscarriage feels forced.

Ironically, the most touching relationship is between Lea and her grandfather, Oswalt. When Marvin’s bullet ricochets and fatally strikes Oswalt, Lea’s emotional breakdown feels authentic, offering one of the film’s few powerful moments.

Koch, in collaboration with the production design team, deserves credit for establishing character backstories visually. Viewers can read into the cast’s personalities simply by observing their living spaces. Ana and Marvin’s disheveled apartment speaks volumes about their volatile dynamic. Marvin’s drug addiction and Ana’s caretaking role are clear before a word is said. Though the sound design doesn’t always stand out, it supports the film’s suspenseful atmosphere effectively.

Like “Cube” and other films of this kind, “Brick” involves problem-solving through logic, maps, and maths. The mystery deepens as characters attempt to piece together what’s happening.

At first, suspicion falls on their creepy landlord, Friedman (Alexander Beyer), who’s renovating the building. The characters even compare their situation to a real-life “Squid Game.” But when they reach his apartment, Friedman is already dead—dismissing him as the orchestrator.

Yuri emerges as a philosophical antagonist. He believes the brick wall is a protective barrier against a world-ending threat outside—a war, maybe. His conviction puts him at odds with the rest, and his motives grow murkier as he eventually murders Lea and Anton.

The secret control room in Friedman’s apartment is another red herring. It appears to be a surveillance hub for a twisted game but ultimately adds little. In the end, the film ties everything back to a fire at Epsilon Nano Defense, hinted at in a background news report:

“…State of Emergency in Hamburg with government officials confirming that a fire at Epsilon Nano Defense is what triggered a serious malfunction in the secret defence system that’s been… still investigating the cause of the fire whether it is an electrical issue or an act of sabotage…”

After this, Tim and Olivia—now the only survivors—drive through a deserted city, with all buildings encased in the same mysterious bricks. Off to Paris, maybe.

But this ending raises more questions than it answers. Did everything happen just for the couple to finally go to Paris? Why was Yuri so determined to stop the escape? What was Anton’s connection to the Epsilon fire? What secrets did Yuri die with? Why all the struggle if the outside world wasn’t even dangerous? And what was the point of the landlord’s surveillance setup?

The twisty final scene all but confirms a sequel.

Release Date: July 10, 2025
Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Streaming Service: Netflix
Writer-Director: Phillip Koch
Cast: Matthias Schweighöfer, Frederick Lau, Sira-Anna Faal, Ruby O. Fee, Murathan Muslu, Alex Werner, Salber Lee Williams, Alexander Beyer, Josef Berousek