FILM REVIEWS:
BRICK (Germany 2025) ***
Directed by Philip Koch
In the spirit of puzzling escape films like THE PLATFORM and CUBE comes BRICK, a claustrophobic mystery sci-fi thriller with a few other genres like romance and drama thrown in for good measure. All three films share the common traits of having to supply a satisfactory, or rather, credible explanation to the phenomenon, which might appear believable to some and hokey to others. Escape is more the key than the explanation.
BRICK stars real-life couple Matthias Schweighöfer as Tim and Ruby O. Fee as Olivia, a couple with a troubled relationship arising from Olivia’s miscarriage.
Olivia has quit her job and wants to travel and free themselves from work and to start anew. Tim, however, is still in the process of developing a computer game, trying to meet a deadline and wants to do this escape later. The next morning, Olivia has packed her bags ready to leave him, but both discover that this is not possible as their entire residence has been walled up by ‘brick’.
One can complain that this film goes nowhere, but this complaint would obviously result from the premise. But the film brings in other elements and develops the story at a pace that is satisfactory enough to keep tedium from setting in. The film begins with a look at the couple’s relationship, then the wall occurs, followed by their attempts to find out more about the wall. The discovery of their neighbours, also trapped, follows, which leads to the interaction, undesired ones with the neighbours. The reason for BRICK is eventually revealed. The script also ups the ante with no internet, no water and the neighbours beginning to do bad things.
The neighbours are discovered when Tim and Ruby break down the walls dividing the apartments (not the ones in front of their windows and door). These neighbours include:
Ana and Marvin, a drug-using couple
An older man (Mr. Oswalt) and his granddaughter
Yuri, a paranoid conspiracy theorist and former roommate of a programmer named Anton
Anton, who is unseen, discovers that the wall is made of malfunctioning nanotech designed for defence, but he dies trying to unlock it
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). Nanotechnology may be able to create new materials and devices with diverse applications, such as in nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, agricultural sectors, biomaterials, energy production, and consumer products. However, nanotechnology raises issues, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials, and their potential effects on global economics, as well as various doomsday scenarios. These concerns have led to a debate among advocacy groups and governments on whether special regulation of nanotechnology is warranted. The nanotech used in the film is an intriguing concept.
The reviews of BRICK have been mixed, but given the premise, the film succeeds in generating sufficient mystery with some thrills, while also injecting emotion, often absent in such films, by the introduction of the protagonist couple with relationship problems. The film is also well paced with sufficient surprises around every corner.
BRICK premieres on Netflix July 10, 2025.
Trailer:
MADEA'S DESTINATION WEDDING (USA 2025) ***
Directed by Tyler Perry
MADEA’S DESTINATION WEDDING is the new film in the Madea cinematic universe with Tyler Perry directing, writing, producing, and reprising his role as Mabel "Madea" Simmons as well as playing Joe and Brian Simmons. Unlike his recent THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT (214) and STRAW (2025), MADEA’S DESTINATION WEDDING returns Perry to his nonsense Madea, where he appears to be enjoying himself and having great fun making movies.
Madea and family attend Tiffany's rushed destination wedding in the Bahamas. Tensions arise as Tiffany doubts her fiancé, Zavier, and her mother acts strangely, raising suspicions about the marriage's legitimacy.
This is Perry’s comedy nonsense, which usually gets bad reviews from critics, though the film is quite funny - Tyler Perry has a superb sense of humour. Ignore the distractions from the main storyline, as there are many, as Madea’s family members spend half the time insulting each other and then laughing their heads off.
MADEA’S DESTINATION WEDDING opens for streaming Friday, July 11th, on Netflix.
Trailer:
PUSH (USA 2024) **
Directed by David Charbonier and Justin Powell
Touted as a home invasion horror, PUSH is more of a stalker slasher horror than a home invasion horror. The entire movie has a killer going after a pregnant realtor. The trouble with this film is that it lacks a narrative, and it moves at a slow pace. The first three jump scares (the accident/ the crows in the window and a phone ringing) take a whole 30 minutes to occur - talk about slow burn. Nothing really happens and all we see is this pregnant lady dressed in white, (to symbolize oriuty?) walking about show home, A few good horror setups, the best of these involve an the woman’s shoes in an about to fall elevator fail to incite any anticipation or purpose, Is this a vanity project for the led actress Alicia Sanz who also executively produced this sloth-paced horror film? Best to watch this a twice the speed, even though the film might still be slow. The directing duo’s previous two films were much better.
Natalie Flores (Alicia Sanz), a pregnant realtor who is recovering from the devastating loss of her boyfriend. In the early scenes of the film, it is revealed that Natalie came to Northern Michigan from Spain with an American boyfriend, Matt (David Alexander Finn), who was then killed in a car accident. Isolated and cut off from her support network, Natalie is determined to prove to everyone, including herself, that she can make this bad situation work. Natalie’s latest listing is the gorgeous and large Marquez residence, a palatial home (that’s maybe haunted) that she intends to sell despite its ghostly, macabre reputation.
All the elements that make a good narrative and picture are missing. There is no character development, no plot twists, no story in fact, no audience anticipation or any humour of any kind. The film is made up of isolated scary set-pieces, many of which are not connected or the story. The raison d’être for the killer is also absent.
PUSH premiered at the Sitges Film Festival last October and opens on Shudder, the horror streaming service, coming Friday, 11th July.
Trailer:
ZIAM (Thailand 2025)***
Directed by Kulp Kaljareuk
ZIAM is advertised as a zombie movie.
In a fight for survival against a horrifying army of zombies, a former Muay Thai fighter must use skill, speed, and grit to save his girlfriend.
The zombie genre is a well-worn genre that audiences are generally tired of, after zombie films have worn their welcome. To the credit of the ZIAM filmmakers, they have encompassed other genres into the film. Most obvious is the inclusion of the action thriller as the protagonist is a Muah Thai fighter. In fact, the film begins with an action fight set-piece in which the protagonist (unnamed and played by Johnny Anfone) encounters a gang of thugs and fights his way through them. The zombies only appear in a hospital 20 minutes into the film. The protagonist is also in love with a doctor in the hospital. Rin (Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich) and the fighter arę in love, and she wants him to quit his dangerous job. One last time, he repeatedly tells her. In the process of the zombie apocalypse, the fighter rescues a boy in search of his mother in the hospital while he searches for Rin. A villain is added to the story. The authorities want to blow up the hospital to prevent infection, a case of million 500 to save 5 million, the population of the city. (Bangkok actually has a population of 10.8 million, in 2023).
The special effects are good, the action fight scenes passable, and the make-up and gore are all right for a zombie film.
Despite the filmmakers' efforts, there is hardly anything fresh in this film that has not been seen in other action or zombie films. Every subplot also has a clichéd ending. Though the film moves fast, many will still feel the tedium of a film trapped in a well-worn genre.
ZIAM opens for streaming on Netflix this week.
Trailer:
