There’s a terrifying premise baked into 1BR, writer/director David Marmor‘s feature directorial debut about a young woman and the ordeal surrounding her new seemingly perfect apartment. Sarah (Nicole Brydon Bloom) is new to Los Angeles, actively pursuing her dream of being a costume designer and escaping from her unsupportive father Gus (Alan Blumenfeld). She’s stuck at a terrible temp job and sleeping in a low-rent motel, but early in the film, she happens upon an open house in an apartment complex that looks perfect. Initially, Sarah is dismayed by the number of potential tenants vying for the coveted unit, but landlord Jerry (Taylor Nichols) encourages her to apply and shortly thereafter she receives word that the apartment is hers.

The set-up plays off audience familiarity about the pursuit of dreams in LA and the challenges of finding good housing that doesn’t have some kind of catch. Initially, it’s like a dream come true: the apartment is gorgeous and the other residents are welcoming, especially attractive neighbor Brian (Giles Matthey) and faded movie star Edie (Susan Davis), whom Sarah quickly develops a nurturing rapport with.

For Sarah, there are two sticking points. One is keeping her cat Giles hidden in a “No Pet” environment, which is an early source of conflict when someone slides an aggressive note along with the apartment’s policy under her door. More significant, though, are the loud banging noises from the pipes that keep her awake all night and leave her exhausted and frazzled come morning.

Since this is a horror movie, the question is not if there is danger, but what is the danger. On the surface, there’s nothing intrinsically threatening about Sarah’s new abode outside of Lester (Clayton Hoff), the mildly creepy eyepatch-wearing resident who tries to peddle a book called The Power of Community to Sarah during a BBQ. There are no ominous supernatural warning signs like in The Amityville Story or vaguely threatening neighbors a la Rosemary’s Baby. Marmor’s script plays things relatively straight right up until the end of the first act when Sarah wakes up to the sound of her fire alarm going off and makes a grisly discovery in the kitchen, at which point it is clear that someone is in her apartment. From that point on, the nightmare begins…but not in the way that audiences might expect.

To say more would ruin the surprise, but part of what makes 1BR such a pleasant surprise is the uncertainty of where things are heading. Is it supernatural? Is it rape/revenge? Is it a cult? The first act is filled with uncertainty, but after the reveal, the second act quickly answers most of the outstanding questions. The third act then circles back to pay off everything that we’ve learned.

The vast majority of the violence in the film is psychological, which is befitting of the motivation behind Sarah’s attack. This doesn’t mean that 1BR is bloodless, however; when Marmor does introduce gore in a pair of gruesome scenes involving nails and a hammer, it is all the more effective because of the film’s prior restraint.

As Sarah, Brydon Bloom effectively anchors the film. The actress exudes wide-eyed innocence and her character arc from meek pushover to resilient fighter, while somewhat conventional for the genre, is wholly believable. 1BR puts Sarah through the wringer and Marmor gets a lot of mileage out of Brydon Bloom’s tearful reactions as her situation becomes increasingly dire, but the film never feels exploitative.

Matthey is charming and attractive, while Davis makes for a warm, amusing presence as an eccentric actress whose health is failing. Hoff has arguably the second most challenging role (after Brydon Bloom) since Lester is an intentionally threatening character who is kept at arm’s length by the screenplay because Sarah is wary of him. Despite this, Hoff does well with his limited screen time and minimum character development.

One other standout is the film’s use of sound, particularly the unsettlingly loud mixture of clanging and scraping noises that Sarah hears during the night. Sarah’s struggle to block out the noise will resonate with anyone who has battled insomnia or sleep deprivation; sharing a communal living space truly is its own naturalistic horror. When she eventually resorts to earplugs, the sound switches to a muffled experience (reminiscent of hearing sounds underwater) that only serves to make her nighttime attack all the more terrifying.

There are a few elements that don’t work quite as well. The third act, in particular, lags when the film runs out of revelations and the plot utilizes a few tired horror tropes, particularly with regards to the victims of violence, that feel like an easy way to increase the body count and make Sarah’s plight more dangerous without actually inflicting violence on her.

These are minor quibbles, however. Overall the film boasts a great lead performance, a series of surprising twists and great use of sound. At its core, 1BR is a smart, satisfying thriller that will make audiences reevaluate the true cost of “the perfect apartment.”

1BR is now available for VOD rental.

Editor’s Note: This Fantasia review was originally published on July 20th, 2019.