Sarah (Nicole Brydon Bloom), a shy young woman, moves to Los Angeles in hopes of both forgetting her past and achieving her dream of becoming a costume designer. In need of a permanent residence for her and her cat, she attends an open house in an idyllic apartment complex. Despite fierce competition, and a little white lie about having pets, Sarah is pleased to be the lucky new tenant. She finds herself instantly welcomed by her fellow residents, but whilst initially she’s over-the-moon to have found a pseudo new family, and potential love interest in the boy next door, Brian (Giles Matthey), she soon finds herself wanting some distance from her needy neighbours. However, the residents have much more sinister plans for Sarah, plans that will keep her part of their community forever.
Apartment 1 BR has an interesting concept, with the complex doing its best to create its own society closed off from the world in an attempt to achieve true happiness. Occasionally the residents’ attempts venture ever so slightly into Hostel territory, though for the majority they keep things more stripped back and traditional. Marmor makes the most of a limited budget, opting to create a classic approach to film-making. Apartment 1BR is almost Hicthcockian at times, with director David Marmor keeping the onus on intrigue rather than ‘out and out scares’.
The whole film follows a relatively simple path; a story that doesn’t concern itself with too many sub-plots, which for the most part keeps the viewer engaged. Things do however, begin to flag a little around the middle. It’s here that the community’s real intentions are revealed and Sarah’s endurance is tested. The time spent on Sarah’s indoctrination isn’t so much wasted, as it is repetitive. Rather than put her through a whole host of ordeals, proceedings are kept fairly simplistic. It’s clearly a tactic that would be utilised in reality, but focus on one screen for such a long time can cause some viewer’s interest to flag a little. It’s a necessary part of the story-telling process, but the repetition bloats the run time.
Once through that middle slog, the pace picks up and the real suspense begins; has the community achieved their goal and won Sarah over, or has she clung onto her sanity? It’s an interesting dynamic to watch play out, and Nicole Brydon Bloom does a fantastic job with the character. She manages to illicit sympathy whilst at the same time inducing fits of frustration at Sarah’s choices. It’s a difficult tightrope to walk – getting that balance between a lead that you believe in, but despair at all the same – but Bloom pulls it off deftly.
Released in the US simply as 1BR, Apartment 1BR is a taunt thriller that taps into that magic that made the classics so exciting.
Apartment 1BR ia available now on digital VOD platforms.
