Now I want to watch Netflix’s ‘ultimate grandmother of all bad movies ever made’

A new Netflix film has been causing a lot of chatter after being added to the streaming platform yesterday – but mainly for all the wrong reasons.

However, when an early viewer described this psychological thriller as ‘the ultimate grandmother of all bad movies ever made’, it actually made me keen to see it and find out whether or not I agree with that bold description.

Brick, a German-language release, does have an intriguing central conceit: A couple wakes up to find an ominous brick wall has been built overnight, surrounding their apartment building and trapping them inside.

They must then unite with their wary neighbours to uncover the secrets of the wall and try to find a way out alive.

Written and directed by Philip Koch, Brick stars Oppenheimer actor Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee, Frederick Lau and Salber Lee Williams.

It’s not charmed critics, as it currently sits on a dismal rating of just 29% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with FandomWire’s account complaining that the movie ‘isn’t over-the-top enough to be fun or intense enough to be gripping’.

‘Even a perfectly workable thriller premise needs engaging writing, directing and performances to bring it to life, and in this capacity, Netflix’s new feature Brick is as utterly inert as its title,’ Paste Magazine’s review added, which was published with the headline ‘Netflix’s new sci-fi thriller is dumb as a Brick’.

Collider suggested that in Brick’s final act ‘the wall feels less like a fascinating puzzle to solve and more like a monotonous problem to overcome’, while Clint Worthington for RogerEbert.com wrote: ‘It’s frustrating to see such high-concept potential, some decent production design, and a couple of game leads fall victim to a mystery that unfolds with thudding obviousness’.

Others were more positive, with Allan Hunter for Screen International acknowledging that, while Brick is more conventional in its later stages, it’s ‘still a satisfying and watchable audience-pleaser’.

But it’s the early audience reactions where the gloves truly came off and Brick started to sound like it could be in so-bad-it-could-be-entertainingly-good territory – or at least so-bad-you-should-watch-it-to-see-if-you-agree territory.

‘Brick is the ultimate grandmother of all bad movies ever made. So bad you can hardly believe it,’ seethed Jim H in a challenge I will probably have to take up.

‘Watching this was actually painful…Holy [sic.] it’s so bad and the actors are terrible,’ moaned another fan, adding: ‘Do not watch… you will regret it.’

Again, this makes me think that maybe I should watch it. Could this perhaps be 2025’s answer to The Room, which was infamously dubbed ‘the Citizen Kane of bad movies’?

Or maybe we’re at least in the same ballpark as 2019’s Cats or even last year’s superhero stinker Madame Web or Disney horror rip-off Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.

Maybe it could even be as bad as Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, currently one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.

In another half-star reaction, Shiv D called Brick ‘one of the WORST movies in the whole world’ and wondered ‘why did they waste so much money and time for such garbage’.

‘Not gonna lie, I just enjoyed when the characters died for the first time in my life. It felt like they deserved it for wasting my time,’ they added. ‘I don’t want you guys to waste your time so just delete it from your library and never watch it.’

‘I’ve rarely seen such a bad, pointless film. Luckily, there’s a fast-forward button,’ sniped Andrea K on Google.

However, others have shared their enjoyment of Brick, with Philipp Rabe calling actor Freddy Lau’s performance ‘an 11/10’.

‘Contrary to my expectations (the reviews and criticism almost put me off watching it), I really liked the film,’ shared Ma Bau in a five-star Google review.

‘A neat, futuristic idea that might not be so far-fetched in 20 years. Anyone who likes films like Cube will probably be well-served here.’

Benjamin M was another rave reviewer, calling Brick ‘a pretty amazing and exciting contained thriller with a sci fi twist’.

‘The ensemble and the camera work sticks out, with the plot taking twists you don´t see coming. Fun and cool with that little German hint of weirdness!’ he added.

Curiosity could just get the better of me this weekend and see me hitting play on Brick.

Brick is streaming now on Netflix.

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