No-one wants to spend Christmas in an underground car park. In horror-thriller P2, director Franck Khalfoun and writers Alexander Aja and Gregory Levasseur (The Hills Have Eyes 2006 & Mirrors), show us one very good reason why.
It’s Christmas Eve in Manhattan, New York and everyone is hurrying to get out of their offices and home to their families for the holiday’s, including workaholic Angela (Rachel Nichols- Star Trek), trying to make her way down to Level P2 of the parking lot to get in her car and head to her sister’s for dinner.
When Angela gets to her car, she finds, to her frustration, that the battery is dead. Heading over to the security office for help Angela happens upon Thomas (Wes Bentley- The Hunger Games, American Beauty), a slightly odd guard who offers her a jump start on her car.
Thomas has a crush on Angela and offers to share his Christmas dinner in his office when the jumper cables fail. Feeling slightly awkward Angela politely dismisses his offer and heads to the lobby to call a cab. When it finally arrives, she can’t get out the front door, the security guard is missing and every other exit from the building, including the parking garage, is locked. Angela soon finds herself in more than one type of darkness.
Waking up chained to a table, Thomas is the first person Angela sees. Having prepared Christmas dinner as a “surprise”, Thomas has chosen Angela as his date and Angela has no choice in the matter.
Wes Bentley gives a great portrayal of Thomas; a man who becomes crazier as the film progresses. The contrast of his ferocious temper and attempting to convince Angela that he’s trying to help adds to his comical but convincing, twisted character. Nichols as Angela also gives a good performance as the ballsy but frightened employee who just wants to go home for Christmas.
Even with the occasional unlikely event or predictable moment, P2 stays entertaining and is a decent movie. I’d say give it a go.
WICKED RATING: 6/10
Title: P2
Director(s): Franck Khalfoun
Writer(s): Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur, Franck Khalfoun
Stars: Rachel Nichols, Wes Bentley, Simon Reynolds
Year: 2007
Studio/ Production Co: P2 Productions, Summit Entertainment
Budget: $8,000,000 (estimated)
Language: English
Length: 98mins
Sub-Genre: Thriller
