1BR Has Interesting Things to Say About How People Justify Violence (Podcast)

The new horror film 1BR scored the number one spot on Netflix’s movies chart with little budget or promotion. But in the latest Low Key podcast, we talk about why it resonates with audiences — as long as they aren’t cat lovers. You can listen to on Apple or Spotify or right here:

Written and directed by David Marmor. 1BR follows the story of a young dreamer named Sarah (Nicole Brydon Bloom) with dreams of being a Hollywood costumer. She comes to Los Angeles with nowhere to stay, but is chosen from several applicants for a one-bedroom apartment.

At first things seem great: She’s making new friends everywhere, plus the hot guy next door is inviting her over frequently. But she keeps hearing weird stuff inside the apartment. When she finally realizes what’s going on, it may be too late to save herself.

Discussing 1BR without spoilers is really difficult, given the film’s unique take on how people can justify violence against others. This particular edge sets it apart from what we’re used to seeing, and copycats are certain to follow.

Horror movies have covered the stranger danger trop plenty of times before. The film flips this element on its head a bit with some intriguing choices that make 1BR a lot more like The Purge than Saw, for reasons we get into on the podcast.

We previous talked about the world-building of Project Power, which happens to be the movie 1BR knocked out of the No. 1 spot. In this episode, we talk about why 1BR does world-building right — patiently and unobtrusively, even through the potential for sequels and spinoffs is vast.

Also this episode: Keith and I talk about the time a charismatic tried to lure us to his church while we were eating at IHOP.

1BR is now streaming on Netflix.