Panic Room (2002)

Director: David Fincher
Story: David Koepp
Cast: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker
Music: Howard Shore
Time: 112 minutes
Bottom-line: Tense, smart thriller, powered by Foster’s acting

   Pretty much like Kaun and Flightplan put together, David Fincher’s Panic Room is a real time story taking place almost entirely inside a mansion. This film gave a boost for Kristen Stewart’s acting career, and earned Jodie Foster a Saturn Award nomination. After Se7en and Fight Club, Fincher directs a non-action, non-drama, but a rather tense, gripping, psychological thriller. The film also stars Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam in the supporting roles.

 Recently divorced Meg Altman (Foster) and her 11-year-old daughter Sarah (Stewart) move into a four-storeyed mansion. The previous owner, a wealthy millionaire, used extensive measures to protect the house from intruders. In the house there is a practically impenetrable ‘panic room’, protected by concrete and steel on all sides, a thick steel door, and an extensive security system with multiple surveillance cameras, a PA system, and a separate phone line. That night, three burglars: Junior (Leto), Burnham (Whitaker) and Raoul (Yoakam) break in. Apparently, the previous owner has hidden three million dollars in the floor safe of the panic room. Meg and Sarah just manage to get into the panic room in time and away from the clutches of the thieves. But as problems worsen, both of them realize that it is only a matter of time before they have to get out of the panic room, and fall into the hands of the burglars. Whether or not Meg and Sarah keep themselves safe forms the rest of the film.

Kristen Stewart as Sarah (left) and Jodie
Foster as Meg Altman 

The story is pretty much like Kaun: one mansion, two people inside, three strangers trying to get something from the house…a real time story with a battle of wits. At first you think that the story is a bore, and that there is not going to be any surprise; I mean, both mother and daughter are in an impenetrable room… what harm could come to them? But as the story progresses, lots of twists and turns take place. Sarah is diabetic, and her shot of insulin is outside the room in a fridge; the burglars release propane gas into the room, forcing them to come out; the phone line from the room is cut, which means that they can't communicate with anyone else… Many other such twists take place, and soon you realize that what started out as a normal story turns into an adrenaline drive. However, the film gets violent towards the end, and I didn’t find the ending of Burnham’s part to be satisfying. In real life, you can say that fate is cruel, but as it is a movie, I felt that Koepp and Fincher could have given Burnham’s character a better ending.

Leto as Junior (left) and Whitaker as
Burnham

The camerawork is brilliant. Computer generated imagery is used to show the movement of cameras within the house and through the vents and pipes. A number of scenes are shown in slow motion, adding to the suspense. But the important and unique part of the film’s photography is that lots of scenes are shown through the surveillance cameras. The fact that one can see the entire house from the panic room also creates suspense. When Meg and Sarah are inside, they can observe what the burglars are planning to do next, and so can we. Of course, one advantage that the audience has, and Meg and Sarah don’t, is that we can hear the burglars speaking, but they can’t. While Meg and Sarah can only see them planning something, we can hear what they are actually doing or thinking of doing. The opening credits are also different: the letters are shown in a sort of 3D format. Along with this unique camerawork, Shore’s chilling score also adds to the suspense.

Yoakam as Raoul 

Foster’s acting also powers the film. Like Flightplan, here too she plays a mother. Her expressions of fear are excellent. Her acting is so authentic that you fell also feel the same fear and panic she is feeling. Whitaker has also acted well. Kristen Stewart's acting in this film is quite good. Moreover, the characters are not superhuman or anything and in fact the fact that they are females sort of makes them a bit weak for heroes and it also increases the tension and fear. The film sort of empowers women, showing that women can also deal with burglars and murderers if they are smart and bold.

Several scenes are shown through surveillance cameras
from the panic room

To sum up, David Fincher’s Panic Room is a pretty solid, smart and tense thriller, with boosts from the score, brilliant camerawork, CGI and of course, acting. There is not much story, and I felt that the ending could have been improved; I felt that few loose ends were left untied. However, in almost all other aspects, Panic Room delivers strongly.

My Rating: 4/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 76%