David Fincher is one of my favourite directors. From Se7en to Fight Club (which is on after this if you’re interested), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to The Social Network, the man is brilliant. Now I’d be lying if I said I loved all his work (I really hate The Game) but the man usually never fails to impress me. I still need to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Zodiac, but right now I wanna talk about a film of his that always seems to be overlooked in discussions about him, and that’s Panic Room.
Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) is a recently divorced woman who moves into a new apartment with her daughter Sarah (a very young Kristen Stewart). They find the previous owner of the apartment installed a panic room in case of burglars or criminals, something which doesn’t sit comfortably with Meg. On their first night, three criminals (Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam) break in. Discovering this, Meg wakes up Sarah and they escape into the panic room. They tell the criminals via intercom to just take what they want and go. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple… what they want is inside the panic room. Refusing to grant them access, the thieves try all sorts of methods to break in, but with Sarah’s diabetes taking its toll, Meg must soon figure out a way of getting out of this safely.