So it turns out those filmmaking 'rules' exist for a reason

There's a scene early in this film where the couple awake, believing something has happened next door. I found it so utterly confusing which direction things were placed in relation to one-another that I had to re-watch the scene to satisfy myself it made sense.

The reason? The 'rule of 180' is repeatedly violated in during the sequence, making it very hard to understand where things were located visually.

It wasn't a self-conscious, artful violation of the rule done for effect. It was weak film-making. Cinematography is about using the camera/lights to tell the story. In this case it only added confusion.