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Panic Room

Play trailer Poster for Panic Room R 2002 1h 52m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
76% Tomatometer 191 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her young daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) and Junior (Jared Leto) - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.
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Panic Room

Panic Room

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Critics Consensus

Elevated by David Fincher's directorial talent and Jodie Foster's performance, Panic Room is a well-crafted, above-average thriller.

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Critics Reviews

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Namrata Joshi Outlook 01/03/2019
2/4
Leaving you utterly dissatisfied... Go to Full Review
Nell Minow Common Sense Media 12/27/2010
4/5
Extreme suspense, graphic violence; not for kids. Go to Full Review
Todd McCarthy Variety 03/27/2009
A thinking-man's women-in-jeopardy picture, Panic Room does about as much as humanly possible with its deliberately restricted one-setting premise. Go to Full Review
Grant Watson Fiction Machine Oct 15
8/10
Panic Room is a beautifully performed, inventively shot commercial thriller that uses a narrow physical setting to ratchet up tension and a smartly written screenplay to give the characters an uncharacteristic level of depth and complexity. Go to Full Review
Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast Apr 7
4/5
Taut and tense, Panic Room represents a smaller scale effort from director David Fincher that is no less meticulously crafted than his previous films. Go to Full Review
Joe Lipsett Horror Queers Podcast Apr 2
4/5
It may not be a "top tier" Fincher film, but this popcorn thriller is hugely entertaining and deserves more respect. It's a great time at the movies. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Hollis Q @HollisQ Oct 16 Yet more top-shelf terror from director David Fincher, the man behind such popular pulse-pounders as Seven, The Game and Fight Club. See more Bryan C Sep 26 Led by strong performances top to bottom and a clear-eyed understanding of what it aims to be, “Panic Room” is a straight genre movie but with enough Fincher flourishes to give it an extra kick. See more Romas M Sep 25 Greetings from Lithuania. "Panic Room" (2002) is a thriller directed by David Fincher. The premise in this film is a very simple one - a three home invaders breach into a house were unsuspected mother and her daughter get trapped in a panic room, while burglars wry to get to them. Its a cat and mouse kind of a set up that plays out in basically one location. But what makes this movie work in my opinion is a stellar directing by David Fincher. This film while simple on premise delivers big time in its execution. Cinematography here is slick and involving. Pacing is excellent - at running time 1 h 47 min this film was very well paced. Nearly every scene was done so well that it looks and plays superbly well. Editing is nearly perfect. This all off course is a win of Mr. Fincher - a premise that simple in a other directors hands could have been a boring film. But nearly every scene here is done so well that i was glued to my screen during its run time. Overall, "Panic Room" isn't best film that David Fincher has done, but it is a very good one. Simple premise, but excellently executed one. See more Mason M Sep 14 I thought Panic Room was a really great and enjoyable thriller that was really well directed by David Fincher. I do always really appreciate a good bottle thriller and this one did a good job with the idea. I thought the use of the brownstone and the establishing of the location was really incredible. I do usually enjoy David Fincher's movies, and he reminds me of many Hitchcock films in how he always seems to know the right shot to use here. Some of the visuals and the excessive use of blue felt a bit gimmicky but it's overall really well shot. The performances were definitely a highlight. I really enjoy the very small Kristen Stewart's performance in this and I thought Forest Whitaker did an incredible job here. Like a lot of Fincher's movies, a lot of it is owed to the writing. The situations were always immensely enjoyable and always kept me on edge, and the very gradual building of technical ambition and characters was perfect for this film and its subject. I really enjoyed Panic Room and am not sure why this film isn't more appreciated, it's immensely suspenseful and intense and a treat of filmmaking. See more Daniel N Jul 24 Good movie. Great cast and great writing. Was great when it was first released and is still great today. See more James O Jul 7 I absolutely adore this film, the tension, and the mother and daughter relationship See more Read all reviews
Panic Room

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Panic Room

Panic Room: Official Clip - Get Out of My House! Panic Room: Official Clip - Get Out of My House! 2:11 Panic Room: Official Clip - Turn the Gas Off! Panic Room: Official Clip - Turn the Gas Off! 2:11 Panic Room: Official Clip - Hand in the Door Panic Room: Official Clip - Hand in the Door 2:13 Panic Room: Official Clip - Discovering the Burglars Panic Room: Official Clip - Discovering the Burglars 2:11 Panic Room: Official Clip - Unsung Hero Panic Room: Official Clip - Unsung Hero 2:01 Panic Room: Official Clip - Thanks, Burnham Panic Room: Official Clip - Thanks, Burnham 2:03 Panic Room: Official Clip - The Panic Room Panic Room: Official Clip - The Panic Room 1:47 Panic Room: Official Clip - I'm Raoul Panic Room: Official Clip - I'm Raoul 2:11 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her young daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) and Junior (Jared Leto) - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.
Director
David Fincher
Producer
Ceán Chaffin, Judy Hofflund, David Koepp, Gavin Polone
Screenwriter
David Koepp
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Hofflund/Polone, Columbia Pictures
Rating
R (Violence|Language)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 29, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$95.3M
Runtime
1h 52m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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