“The Horror of the Inescapable Apartment,” “Brick” (2025) is a Netflix German original film. The story follows a group of ordinary apartment residents who, one night, find their building suddenly and completely surrounded by a mysterious black wall. Trapped inside, the neighbors struggle to survive and escape. The film blurs the boundaries between reality and unreality, everyday life and disaster, blending sci-fi imagination with the tension of mystery and thriller.
The protagonists, Tim (Matthias Schweighöfer) and Olivia (Ruby O. Fee), are longtime lovers drifting apart after the loss of their child. Olivia suggests a world trip to heal their relationship, but Tim refuses for practical reasons. On the day they decide to break up, as they try to leave their apartment, they are confronted by a black wall that seals off all exits—windows, doors, even vents. The wall is impervious to any physical force and is revealed to be a mysterious, magnetic substance.
Initially, each tries to break the wall in fear and confusion, but soon they join forces with other trapped neighbors. These include the traveling couple Marvin (Frederick Lau) and Ana (Salber Lee Williams), grandfather Oswald (Axel Werner) and his granddaughter Lea (Shira-Anna Pal), and Yuri (Murathan Muslu), who claims to be a police officer and believes the wall is protecting them. Each character brings their own backstory, personality, and desires, leading to conflict.
Using the wall as a physical device, the film sharply explores the dark sides of human nature, group conflict, trust and betrayal, and survival instincts in extreme situations. The first half draws viewers in with mystery and tension; the latter half focuses on psychological warfare, cooperation, and the gradual revelation of the wall’s secret.
“Brick” delivers a dense portrayal of claustrophobia and group psychology in a closed space over its 1-hour-40-minute runtime. Rather than offering a dramatic twist or clear resolution to the mystery, it opts for a mundane, everyday ending. The chemistry between Matthias Schweighöfer and Ruby O. Fee, along with the characteristically realistic and cold direction of German cinema, is striking.
Brick 2025 Film
- Korean: 브릭 2025 | English: Brick 2025 | Japaness ブリック 2025
- Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Sci-Fi
- Director/Writer: Philip Koch
- Cast: Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee, Frederick Lau, Salber Lee Williams, Murathan Muslu, Shira-Anna Pal, Axel Werner, Alexander Boyer, Josef Berousek
- Distributor: Netflix
- Release: 2025
- Runtime: 100 minutes
- network : Netflix
- Rating: 15+
Table of Contents
Brick 2025 Ratings
- Rotten Tomatoes: 29%
- Naver Viewer Score: –
- IMDb: 5.4
Netflix Brick 2025 Cast
- Tim (Matthias Schweighöfer @mschweighoefer): Game developer, closed off after losing a child
- Olivia (Ruby O. Fee @rubyofee): Tim’s partner, trying to repair their relationship
- Marvin (Frederick Lau): Traveler, gets into trouble due to drug issues
- Ana (Salber Lee Williams): Marvin’s girlfriend, traveler
- Oswald (Axel Werner): Grandfather protecting his granddaughter Lea
- Lea (Shira-Anna Pal): Oswald’s granddaughter
- Yuri (Murathan Muslu): Claims to be a police officer, believes the wall is protecting them
Director Filmography
- Director: Philip Koch
- Major works: Brick (2025), other German dramas/thrillers
- Style: Realistic, cold atmosphere, strong in depicting human psychology in confined spaces
Movie Brick Plot Summary
The film opens with Tim and Olivia emotionally distant after losing their child. At dawn, Tim tosses in bed while Olivia, an architect, sits nearby. Their relationship is marked by a deep rift since the miscarriage. Tim immerses himself in game development to escape reality, while Olivia proposes a fresh start in Paris, which Tim rejects. Olivia decides to leave, but as she packs, a mysterious black wall appears, sealing the apartment. All exits—doors, windows, vents—are instantly blocked, trapping them inside.
Electricity remains, but water, internet, and cell signals are cut off. Tim tries to drill and hammer through the wall, but it repels metal with a powerful magnetic force, injuring his back. Olivia discovers strong magnetism at four points on the wall; when metal is applied, the wall vibrates and repels it forcefully.
Panicked, they hear noises from next door. Breaking a hole in the wall, they find Marvin and Ana, an Airbnb couple, also trapped and confused. Marvin takes drugs out of fear, Ana injures her hand trying to break the wall, and the four eventually join forces to escape.
Olivia recalls a WWII-era underground shelter in the building. They decide to break through the floor and go downstairs, where they find Oswald and Lea. Initially wary, Oswald agrees to cooperate after understanding the situation.
Tim discovers a hidden surveillance camera in Oswald’s smoke detector. The group heads to the landlord Friedmann’s apartment, finding him dead from blood loss with both hands severed, surrounded by monitors and recording devices. It’s revealed Friedmann had been secretly surveilling the tenants
“The wall isn’t trapping us—it’s protecting us.” —Conspiracy theorist Yuri’s famous line
Surveillance footage shows another resident, Anton, and his friend Yuri. Yuri, a conspiracy theorist, claims the wall is protecting them from an external biochemical attack. Anton analyzes the wall’s internal structure and finds a way to briefly open it with a smartphone app, but Yuri kills Anton to prevent this.
Netflix Brick Ending
The six descend to the underground shelter, only to find another wall blocking the tunnel’s end. In despair, Marvin shoots at the wall; the bullet ricochets, killing Oswald. Lea is killed by Yuri, and Ana is gruesomely cut in half while testing the wall’s portal function. Shocked, Marvin shoots Yuri and then takes his own life.
Only Tim and Olivia remain.
Tim analyzes Anton’s data and surveillance footage to find the exact pattern to open the wall. Olivia presses the wall’s buttons in sequence, causing the wall to blur like mist and open a portal. At that moment, Yuri reappears and attacks them, but Olivia subdues him with a hammer.
Tim and Olivia struggle through the tunnel and finally emerge outside. But freedom does not await them. The entire city is surrounded by black bricks, the streets are empty, helicopters circle overhead, and a radio broadcast reports that the Epsilon Nano Defense system malfunctioned due to a massive fire, causing the disaster.
There was no external threat; all the isolation and fear stemmed from a human-made system error. Tim and Olivia drive out of the city in a camper van, resolving to start anew together.
Brick Ending Explained
The ending of “Brick” never reveals the true nature of the mysterious wall, emphasizing the essence of human anxiety, loss, and group conflict. Physically, the wall is an obstacle to escape, but psychologically, it symbolizes the truths, fears, and wounds each character wishes to avoid.
Tim and Olivia have built emotional walls between themselves due to the grief of losing a child, and the neighbors are similarly trapped by their own scars and fears. Attempts to break the wall are a process of confronting oneself, but ultimately, the wall never disappears. This shows how easily humans can despair, distrust, and sometimes avoid reality in extreme situations.
The film offers no solution to the mystery, instead asking viewers, “What if I were in that situation?” Whatever the wall’s true nature, what matters is the human nature, relationships, and choices revealed inside. The emptiness of the ending symbolizes the uncertainty of reality and human frailty, leaving a lingering impression.
While various interpretations—external threats, conspiracy theories, government control—are possible, the truth is that an unexpected technical accident triggered the chaos. This demonstrates how human anxiety, misunderstanding, and lack of information can cause enormous confusion. Tim and Olivia’s journey through the wall metaphorically represents their process of loss, conflict, and recovery.
Brick 2025 Reviews
“Brick” drew attention for its original premise and mysterious early atmosphere, but ultimately left an impression of ordinariness and emptiness in its development and conclusion. The first half is immersive, with the mystery of the wall, escape attempts, and psychological warfare among neighbors creating tension. The actors’ performances, especially those of Matthias Schweighöfer and Ruby O. Fee, are notable for their emotional depth.
However, as the film progresses, the mystery is never resolved, and there is no dramatic twist—only the conflicts, losses, and emptiness of the human ensemble remain. The lack of explanation for the wall and the predictability of the characters’ actions limit the film’s impact. The ending leaves a sense of futility and bittersweet aftertaste, as if all their struggles were for nothing.
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