1BR (2019)

I didn’t know anyone from the cast or crew or anything about the film itself, so I gave it a shot just for that. I love indies, especially when I know nothing about them and feel like I should have. 1BR was meant to be one of them.

What starts as too coincidental, convenient, and questionable, such as the single, good-looking, and kind neighbour, is followed by an interesting first plot point and a second act that promises something extremely sinister. That promise will get your undivided attention… but will almost instantly let you down as it doesn’t live up to it. Here’s the tricky part, though. If you want that promise to be kept, it means that one way or another, you are into some torture porn or similar, so this film is not for you. If, on the other hand, you were glad that that promise was not kept, it means that even the idea of the concept appals you, so this film is not for you either. So, who is this film for, then? Maybe you can find a third category.

From where I stand, no half-measure ever brought any decent results. Hence, no one likes them. You either go for it, or you don’t. Any reservations about the script will be enormously amplified on the screen. To put it plainly, 1BR is not daring. It teases you with something that, eventually, does not offer. Nicole Brydon Bloom’s acting is more than decent, but David Marmor’s script and directing fall into the half-measure category. Two, respectively, “full measure” films that didn’t hold back were The Invitation (2015) and Martyrs (2008). While it could have been The Invitation meets Martyrs, it isn’t. Too many variables should have been different for that to happen.

We can’t really have it both ways in life, and the same applies to films. What also applies to both is that we are free to choose but not free of the consequences.

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