The Girl on The 3rd Floor

When I first turned on The Girl on the 3rd Floor I was slightly confused. To be honest I scanned/half read the synopsis and just threw it on since I didn’t see anything else that caught my eye on Netflix at the time. The film as a whole has a very weird tone. It’s bland yet bright, a little dull yet still interesting. It’s a little difficult to explain if I’m being honest but I will definitely try my best. However, before I get into the details of the story and the plot, let me breakdown some cast, crew, and setting info of this weird yet bizarre horror film.

The Girl on the 3rd floor is set in present time. The film stars C.M. Punk who plays Don, Trieste Kelly Dunn who plays Liz, and Sarah Brooks who plays Sarah. The film was written and directed by Travis Stevens along with story help and credit from Ben Parker, Paul Johnstone, and Trent Haaga. The cast alone is not bad. Is it the best acting I’ve ever seen? No, however, it wasn’t too cringe worthy or distracting from the actually storyline and plot.

The film starts off slow showing Don moving in and remodeling an empty house. He meets neighbors who are not only are confused as to why he would live there, why he is straight living there, and also where his family if he actually had one was located. He explained how his wife is living back at the old house for the moment because she is expecting their first child together, clearing the air. While chatting with neighbors and friends, information about Don once being unfaithful to his wife and cheating on her reveals itself in conversation. This explains the hesitation and almost doubt in each conversation that Don has with his wife Liz. The neighbors claim several times that the house that Don purchased and is moving into is “bad news for straight men”.

Don minds his business day in and out while remodeling the house, taking care of himself and his dog Cooper, and communicating with his wife. One day a girl named Sarah stops by the house. She introduces herself and seduces Don. They have an affair that Don is not only ashamed about but also afraid of as well. While Don has an affair with Sarah, Cooper tries to warn him that there is another presence within the house. Don ignoring Cooper, finishes with Sarah and walks her out. Out of nowhere he hears a huge crash and goes to investigate. He finds a huge whole in the ceiling revealing the attic from the upstairs from down below.

The next day Sarah returns trying to sleep with Don again. He declines and explains his situation and how he shouldn’t have let the situation get so out of hand in the first place. Sarah leaves after a quick back and forth banter with Don. When asleep that night he has a dream that he’s sleeping with his wife, then Sarah, then in its final reveal it’s actually a ghost that Don is sleeping with. He wakes out of his dream freaked out and confused on what his dream is supposed to mean.

The next day Don has his friend Milo come over to help him with the house and to get his mind off of things. While out getting food and drinks the bartender warns them that the house Don purchased is infamous for being haunted. Don and Milo leave for the night and head back to the house. The next morning Sarah lets herself into the house and makes coffee. Milo waking up first introduces himself to Sarah and sparks some small talk with her. Don after waking up and realizing what’s going on threatens Sarah and kicks her out. He tells her again about his life, wife, and baby on the way. Milo now suspicious asks Don about Sarah. They both have a disagreement about the affair since Don’s wife is pregnant, and this will now be his second time cheating on her. After the heated argument Don leaves Milo at the house and goes out for a minute to regroup and regain composure.

Milo after being left alone is attacked by Sarah and the ghost figure from Don’s dream. They kill him and dispose of his body on the walls of the house. Don returns after some time to an empty house. Confused as to where Milo is he tries to act cool as he’s on the phone with his wife, Liz. While on the phone she sees someone walk behind Don which happens to be Sarah. Don checks the house to assure Liz that everything is fine. Sarah in the shadows continue to follow and creep around Don as he’s on the phone with Liz that night. After getting off the phone with Liz, a neighbor that night tries to warn Don about the personality of his house. Don however, doesn’t catch on to what his neighbor is trying to foreshadow and forewarn.

In the middle of the night Cooper hears a clapping noise that sparks his curiosity. He gets out of bed to check out the sound. He never returns to bed. The next morning Don goes looking for Cooper. Out of nowhere he hears his dryer violently thumping around. When he goes to check it out he sees that Cooper is now chopped up and dead in the dryer. Don then calls the police, positive that its Sarah that is messing with him. The cops tell him that there is nothing that they can really do to help him. Sarah then shows up, and defeated Don apologizes to her for the miscommunication, mistake, and the threat. Sarah does not forgive him, tells him he should have known better, and that his wife and baby deserve better. Don tricks Sarah telling her he has a gift for her in the kitchen when he really knocks her out thinking he killed her. He wraps her body up and disposes it in the basement.

Don begins to put Sarah’s body into the wall when his wife calls him. He answers the call very disheveled and freaks out on his wife due to being overwhelmed by the entire situation. After hanging up the call, he returns to his work only to find Sarah’s body gone. Searching everywhere for the body he goes into the attic and begins to kick in the walls. He reveals a small secret room with random drawings and toys in it. The next day Don decides to drill a hole in one of the walls in the house and stick a camera in the wall. When he does this, he sees the ghost figure and freaks out. He decides to drill another hole in a different wall and this time discovers Milo’s body. Freaked out he calls the cops but can’t get ahold of them. He then gets a random text from Sarah warning him about actions and consequences.

The ghost then attacks Don in a very graphic, painful, and horrific way. She watches him in pleasure and delight enjoying the view of Don dying. The next morning Liz arrives at the empty house. She calls out to the house looking for Don and Cooper unaware that they are dead. She finally finds the first hole that Don made in the walls. She pulls out a piece of newspaper that has an article on it about the house being a brothel that had to be shut down due to a girl’s missing body. Unsettled Liz continues to look for Don and Cooper. She goes down to the basement but finds nothing. On her way back up to the house Sarah frightens her. Sarah then tells her how she was helping Don with the house. A neighbor stops by interrupting the awkward moment. Liz tries to invite her in to talk but they insist on talking outside. The neighbor lets Liz know that they were just checking in on Don. They also ask about their marriage and warn Liz that the house is terrible when it comes to bad relationships. The wife quickly ends the conversation and heads back inside to find Sarah nowhere in the house. She uses the restroom and when she goes to wash her hands sees an eye staring back at her out of the drain. Terrified she calls Don and finds out that his phone is at the house with her. She then leaves the house and goes over to the neighbor’s place to confess her issues and troubles within her marriage. The neighbor then advises her to leave the house.

Liz frustrated returns to her house only to find her house filled with strangers. She goes upstairs to the attic still looking for Don. Once up there she sees a crowd looking down at Sarah from the whole in the ceiling as she dances around. A partner comes out of nowhere and begins to whip Sarah. After finishing the partner comes upstairs to the attic and gives his daughter marbles. Liz continues to look for Don as the scene continues to play out. She bumps into Sarah again on the stairs. Trying to manipulate Liz, Sarah plays victim and begins to tell her life story. Out of nowhere Sarah attacks Liz, but she gets away without being injured.

Now locked up in a room. Don reveals himself as a bloody mess to Liz. He rambles on and on as Liz tries to explain that they need to get out of the house. After minutes of self-torture and skinning from Don, Sarah actually reveals herself as Don terrifying Liz to no return. She then rushes out of the room and runs into Milo’s dead body. The ghost comes out of the wall where Milo’s body was located and Liz bashes its brain in with a sledgehammer killing it. Sarah out of nowhere comes up to the dead ghosts and rubs on it as if she’s comforting the ghost’s body.

Liz’s neighbor waits outside of the house as Liz’s exits the front door. The neighbor tells her that she did good in regards to surviving the house. The next day Liz goes at remodeling the house again this time on her own. Six months past and show Liz and the baby in the nursery. As Liz puts the baby down for a nap and leaves the baby alone. Don appears in the vent whispering. “That’s my girl”, to the baby as the film ends.

Was the film entertaining? Yes, after you get past the initial 30 minutes of the movie. Would I recommend it to another horror fan? Probably not, and if I did it would solely be for the last 25-30 minutes of the film. The gore/makeup is great, I can’t lie. However, as a whole I felt as if the movie and acting as well was a little dry and one toned. There were some scenes that were great and a hit, while others fell a little short and would be considered a miss. For example, for this horror film to have such small amounts of gore and kills, they have to really be memorable. Some of the kills in this film were questionable if I’m being honest. Along with the scenes leading up to the horror content and kills. The scenes were not suspenseful at all making it difficult to consider this film a scary horror film. With that being said, if you’ve seen everything on Netflix, willing to watch something new, and have an open mind, The Girl on the 3rd Floor might just be for you. If you’ve seen the movie already, let me know your thoughts and opinions down below in the comment section. And if you are going to take a shot at this film, let me know what you think once you’ve seen The Girl on the 3rd Floor.