Review of P2 (2007) by Archibald T — 14 Dec 2012

On Christmas Eve, Angela, a businesswoman, decides to stay at the office a little later than expected. Keeping herself tied up at the office means spending less time with her family which are throwing a Christmas Party. It seems lately her career has been the most important thing on holidays, but luckily this year she's hoping to make the rounds of seeing her family and enjoy a fun Christmas for once. Sadly, she's about to work overtime.

When her car doesn't start, she asks the kindly young security guard named Thomas to call her a cab. Instead he holds her up by trying to help with her car. He isn't able to get it started himself and she unfortunately must call a cab. He invites her to a little Christmas dinner he's having all by himself, but she declines. It's brought up in such an awkward way that anyone could laugh at such an invite. I chuckled a little bit myself. "Maybe another time," he says. She reluctantly says "Sure." Of course, she doesn't mean it and only wants to get out of the building. The cab she called for leaves since the lobby she's in is locked. So returning to the security guard for help turns into a life or death struggle when he chloroforms her and forces her into his sick and twisted game.

Being stuck in a parking garage on Christmas Eve would make any person lonely. Year after year, Thomas must've been very depressed or at least a little nuts. However, it seems, that this little game of his turns out to be the best thing he could ever want. All he really wants is to help the woman he finds the most desireable, but in ways that are clearly psychotic. Wes Bentley does an impressive job as the menacingly lonely security guard. He makes him seem normal on the surface with a crack of a smile or a kindly gesture. He was a perfect choice.

This film does have a generic set up: A woman in jeopardy must survive from a psychopath in a parking garage. Setting it on Christmas Eve, however, made it much more potent than if it were set on just an average day. There were also some pretty thrilling moments as well. One in particular occurs when Angela keeps herself couped up in the elevator only to have Thomas use an alternative means of getting her out by flooding it with a fire hose. There is a moment or two of humor, but probably the most funny part would be the end credit photo gallery of pictures of the security guard briefly flashing up.

Overall, Beware of parking garages, lonely security guards with evil intentions and a busty woman carrying an axe. That is all.