Name: Girl on the Third Floor
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 2019-10-25T00:00:00+00:00
Cast: Phil Brooks, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks, Elissa Dowling, Karen Woditsch

The ceiling collapses, revealing a viewing platform in the attic.

Girl on the Third Floor is a haunted house story that knows its tropes but refuses to play them straight. Director Travis Stevens and his co-writer Ben Parker craft a narrative that’s as much about toxic masculinity and redemption as it is about supernatural terror. The film’s central premise—a man renovating a mansion with a dark past—is familiar, but the execution is refreshingly unnerving.

Phil Brooks (better known as CM Punk) delivers a performance that anchors the film. His portrayal of Don Koch, an ex-lawyer with a criminal past and a penchant for self-destruction, is raw and compelling. The scene where Don confesses his infidelity to Liz over a video call is particularly powerful, capturing the desperation and guilt that drive his character. Brooks’ physicality—whether he’s wielding a sledgehammer or frantically slicing his own neck—adds an extra layer of intensity to the horror.

The film’s practical effects are wonderful and grotesque in equal measure. The sludge-like substance seeping from the walls and fixtures is both visually striking and deeply unsettling. Stevens’ direction ensures that these moments land with maximum impact, using tight framing and slow reveals to build tension. The marbles scattered throughout the house serve as a chilling motif, symbolizing the unseen forces at play.

However, the film falters in its pacing and coherence. The first act is slow, spending too much time on Don’s backstory and the house’s history without enough immediate payoff. The introduction of Sarah Yates (Sarah Brooks) as a seductive neighbor feels heavy-handed, and her eventual reveal as a supernatural entity lacks the buildup needed to make it truly terrifying. The film’s themes—male toxicity, redemption, and the cyclical nature of violence—are intriguing but not fully explored. The third act descends into chaos, with too many jump scares and not enough narrative clarity.

Stevens’ command of the horror genre is evident, but Girl on the Third Floor struggles to balance its ambitions. The film’s best moments come when it leans into its psychological horror elements, such as Don’s hallucinations and Liz’s visions of the house’s past. These sequences are visually inventive and thematically rich, offering glimpses of what could have been a more cohesive whole.

Girl on the Third Floor is an entertaining haunted house story with moments of genuine brilliance, but it ultimately falls short of its potential. The performances, particularly Brooks’, and the practical effects are standout elements that keep the film engaging.