The burdens of life are all too relatable for the modern movie-goer, and that seems to be the focus of director Matt Patterson's newest film, Apartment 413. The film follows Marco, a soon-to-be father desperately looking for a job so that he can provide for his pregnant girlfriend and their future child. As the days go by, Marco continues to try and fail at finding work, the pressure begins to get to him. As mysterious phone calls, notes, and other phenomenons happen; Marco begins to lose touch with reality and it threatens the life he has with the ones he loves.
Looking at the trailer alone, the film seems to promise a thrilling yet small scale breakdown of our protagonist. At first the trailer starts out sweet and sad, showing Marco's daily life and routine as he continues to make phone calls and send out resumes. But as the cuts between activities speeds up, the trailer begins to bring on the signs of a breaking point being reached. Soon, Marco begins shouting at himself in the mirror, the walls begin to shake and cave inward, knives and guns make brief appearances onscreen. Soon, apartment 413 transforms from a comforting yet humble home into a cage of madness and fury.
While the film is not promising anything of maximum scale like your average blockbuster, it's the brief glimpses of the performances that seem to be the main draw for this project. Nicholas Saenz seems to be putting his all into the small tidbits that are shown of his role. The melancholy music choice also seems to bring the promise of a story that is just as heartbreaking as it is unnerving and tense. From the trailer alone, the script seems to draw inspiration from such stories as Death of a Salesman but with a more intense and horrifying ending to the story. And having the film set entirely inside of the apartment itself brings on an extra sense of claustrophobia for the characters as well as the audience.
Matt Patterson, the director, has directed various short films such as 2009's Long Night Coming, Live People, 2012's Jätku leiba, and 2016's Marea. The film is written by Ron Maede, this is his first writing credit but he has history as a producer for the TV series From Russia with Motive and production manager for the TV series Lost n' Found. The film stars Nicholas Saenz as Marco, who's most recent acting credits are 2020's #Slaughterhouse and Stalker. Playing Dana, Marco's Girlfriend, is Brea Grant. Grant's most recent acting credits are 2020's The Stylist, Lucky and Happily. Playing the Mechanic is Dave Buckman, and Jon Michael Simpson credited as playing the Inspector. Production Companies involved are Matter Media Studios, One Chameleon Entertainment and Two Birds. Filming was done in Austin Texas.
Apartment 413 had its initial premiere at Cinequest in San Jose on March 8th, 2019. It was later shown at the Austin Film Festival in October 20, 2019. Terror Films plans to release Apartment 413 on Digital Download on September 17th, 2021.