Cinema review
Directed by Franck Khalfoun
Starring Wes Bentley, Rachel Nichols, Simon Reynolds, Philip Williams
Release date 2 May 2008 (UK)

Young businesswoman Angela (Rachel Nichols) has been working late on Christmas Eve when she becomes locked in her office block’s underground car park and stalked by Thomas (Wes Bentley), an obsessive security guard…

To begin with, P2 feels like it’s going to develop into a road movie chiller, where the calamity will happen en route in the middle of nowhere. But it never leaves the cavernous confines of the car park, so claustrophobia is the order of the day.

There’s some similarity to Panic Room, reinforced by the lead actress Rachel Nichols (from fifth-season Alias) who resembles Jodie Foster. Prying CCTV cameras are seen frequently and director Franck Khalfoun makes much of Angela’s isolation with no mobile phone reception down in this dark concrete abyss.

P2, which refers to parking level 2, is co-written by Alexandre Aja, maker of Switchblade Romance (aka High Tension). Though formulaic, it’s notable for not being a remake (like Aja’s own version of The Hills Have Eyes) or a sequel. The realistic torture and gore puts it alongside the Saw movies. However, it doesn’t rely on violence throughout – largely due to the scarcity of supporting characters to slaughter – so when those moments do come, they feel even more powerful.

Rather than a largely mute unstoppable psychopath, bad guy Thomas gets lots of dialogue, enabling Wes Bentley to rev up the slight creepiness he cultivated in American Beauty into all-out menace. His self-absorbed character is seemingly oblivious to the harm he’s inflicting (“You’re trying to get me fired, aren’t you?”), but the fact that it all comes down to him not wanting to be alone while everyone else is being festive is rather weak motivation.

Bentley and Nichols share the tough responsibility of having nearly the whole film to themselves. They give decent, watchable performances and, for a seasonal shocker, P2 is miles better than the 2006 Black Christmas remake. Ian Calcutt

VERDICT: 6/10
A very low-mileage road movie, P2 is as efficient as any well-oiled machine but it’s not terribly innovative.

Click here to view the trailer.