The apartment building is both a setting and a symbol. Sophie calls the building a “gilded cage,” implying its outer beauty is a foil for the inner reality. The infrastructure is rich with metaphor: The cellar was once used as a prison by the Nazis, and the maids’ stairwell and quarters represent a time in France’s history when class divisions were extreme due to the oppressive classist culture. The building holds secret histories, and it guards the secrets of its residents.

Additionally, all of the characters are stuck in this building. The concierge is forced to stay through her loyalty to her secret granddaughter. Sophie is forced to stay for survival. Mimi stays because of her father’s tyranny. Nick returns to the building because he feels unable to forge his own path without his father’s money. Antoine is bound to the building by a desperate desire for his father’s approval. Ben is seduced by the family’s wealth and the promise of a good story, and Jess is tied to the building by her desire to save her last remaining family member. The apartment building is outwardly beautiful but inwardly deplorable, symbolizing the superficiality and corruptive potential of materialist wealth.