Panic Room

6.1

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Original title: Panic Room
Year: 2002
Running time: 115 min.
Country: United States
Director: David Fincher
Screenwriter: David Koepp
Music: Howard Shore
Cinematography: Conrad W. Hall, Darius Khondji
Cast: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto, Patrick Bauchau, Ian Buchanan, Paul Simon, Paul Schulze, Ann Magnuson, Ken Turner, Richard Conant, Andrew Kevin Walker, Mel Rodriguez
Producer: Columbia Pictures, Hofflund/Polone Production
Genre: Thriller. Mystery | Heist Film
Synopsis / Plot: Meg Altman (Foster) is at a crossroads. Suffering through a painful divorce from her husband, pharmaceuticals millionaire Stephen Altman, Meg buys an Upper West Side Manhattan townhouse for herself and her 11-year-old daughter, Sarah (Stewart). She intends to go back to school, raise her child and start a new life. The house she chooses to purchase was built by an eccentric millionaire who built a hidden ‘panic room’ to protect himself in case of a break in.

After moving in, the need for the panic room soon comes into play when their New York brownstone home is invaded by three intruders – Burnham (Whitaker), who knows everything about the room because he built it, Raoul (Yoakam) and Junior (Leto). Meg and Sarah take a stand from the sanctuary of the panic room, not realizing that the room itself is the thieves' target... and they will stop at nothing to get inside.

Critics' reviews

"There are moments when I want to shout advice at the screen, but just as often the characters are ahead of me (...) [Foster] is spellbinding (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"'Panic Room' is Fincher’s high-style testament to the cool things movies can do to make us jump out of our seats."

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"The acting is fine, but everyone here has been better"

A. O. Scott: The New York Times
"'Panic Room' is scary enough to do for downtown living what Jaws did for beaches."

Keith Phipps: AV Club
"While overly mechanical and shamelessly self-obsessed, 'Panic Room' is nonetheless replete with some incredible set pieces (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"

Ed Gonzalez: Slant
"We’re immediately trapped in a state of Hitchcockian high anxiety (...) [It] dissolves into a far more average, less compelling, and sometimes just slapdash-vicious cat-and-mouse game"

Lisa Schwarzbaum: Entertainment Weekly
"One of the most nerve wracking experiences ever put to film and an experience that will leave you out of breath by the time the credits roll."

IGN
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Ranking Lists Position

29 My Top 10 Movies from 2002 (100)
50 Movies with the Best Opening Credits (14)

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