Panic Room (2002)

Panic Room (2002)

8/10

Starring

Jodie Foster

Forest Whitaker

Dwight Yoakam

Jared Leto

Kristen Stewart

Directed by David Fincher

Panic Room is a masterpiece. A movie that just ticks all the right boxes and holds your gaze. The fun in the movie is all the different characters in it. All their different ways of seeing life, all of it in one house where they face a life or death situation. I saw it when it was released back in 2002 and seeing again eighteen years after and still sucked in shows how magnificent the movie was crafted to be.

The main actors in this movie (Jodie Foster and Forest Whitaker) had a dynamic relationship that makes you sit up all through the viewing. If you have not seen this movie before you are left to wonder how it will end when they both finally stand face-to-face.

The movie plot is simple a single mother Meg (Jodie Foster), who bought a home where she and her diabetic daughter were going to live.

The house's previous owner installed a panic room to protect the occupants from intruders. The whole home has some next level surveillance camera system, all wired into the panic room.

On the night the two move into the house, burglars break in. They seem to know their way around the place and want to get into the panic room. It so happens Mother and daughter out of fear run into the panic room hoping the burglars will get what they want and leave.

Then we have a standoff, the panic room is equipped with a PA system so now the burglars and Meg are discussing. Meg wanting the intruders gone and the intruders wanting Meg gone.

The movie was a critical and commercial success. Panic Room is one of the first films in the turn of the century to have video surveillance as the key element to which the film develops. The movie is one of a feminist movement female empowerment movie, where the lead is not equipped with special skills, but just the determination. She has her life and her daughter’s to think of and survival is the only option when faced with men who are stronger and bigger.

Here are women handling things on their own without the need of a man around the house. Although you can argue a little problem in the story, why will a single mother need such a big house?

The director David Fincher got on this project after Fight Club (1999). He and the writer (David Koepp) were able to use this movie to bring to notice, "what happens when your fears come to life?"

Hey, they have a panic room in case of a home invasion and then there was a home invasion.

The panic room represent the idea of control, it has eyes everywhere giving the people in it some form of control over that tiny aspect of their existence. In reality you do not have total control of what happens to you, just a tiny aspect of control. But there is safety in knowing at least there are aspects of your life you can control.

Here is a movie I will always remember fondly and looking forward to seeing it again.