P2

Director: Franck Khalfoun

Stars: Wes Bentley, Rachel Nichols, Simon Reynolds, Philip Akin

Year: 2007

Rating: R

It's Christmas Eve in New York City, and workaholic Angela (Rachel Nichols) is stuck yet again with another late night in her offices in a mid-city highrise. She's determined to get out at a reasonable hour this time, however, because her family's expecting her in Jersey ... and God knows Angela's disappointed her parents and sister enough by no-showing them. As her co-workers and secretary leave, wishing Angela a good holiday, even Mr. Harper (Simon Reynolds) stops by with a red-faced apology; it seems he tried a grope-and-grab with Angela in an elevator recently, while drunk at the office Christmas party. Like everything else in her life, Angela has no time for his contrition, accepting his apology and sending him on his merry way so she can finish her reports and get the hell out of the office.

It's not horribly late when she finally finishes, and Angela's even able to get a ride downstairs in the elevator with security guard Karl (Philip Akin) before he locks them up for the night. In the lobby, she heads for the parking garage elevators, taking one down to level two - P2 - only to find her car won't start. Worse yet, her cell phone can't even get a signal that far down in the garage. In the garage, she also runs into the young, very friendly security guard Thomas (Wes Bentley), who lets her back into the hobby ... and sort of halfheartedly offers her a share of his own Christmas dinner, since she's stranded - but Angela gently turns him down. Now irritated, tired, and loaded down with Christmas gifts (and even a Santa suit for her dad to wear), she heads back up to the lobby, where she calls a cab once her cell phone is working again.

But Karl's nowhere to be found, and when the cab pulls up in front of her building Angela finds herself locked in lobby. Signaling for him to wait, she heads back down to P2 to get the guard to help her - but instead, as the lights flicker off above her, finds herself in total darkness inside the garage. That is, until viewers - in the dim blue glow of her cell phone, spots Thomas behind right behind her. The security guard clamps a cloth tightly over her mouth, Angela struggles but soon passes out...

And thus begins one hell of a bad Christmas Eve for the hardworking woman - now in the hands of the security guard who's obsessed with her.

P2 is really good with pulling out the chills and thrills - not to mention the occasional jump in your seat. Bentley is spot-on as the "nice" security guard who happens to also be a homicidal maniac, and Rachel Nichols plays Angela with just the right mix of strength and vulnerability. I wondered, before going into this film, how much could happen in a parking garage that would keep a feature-length movie suspenseful (or even entertaining) for 90-120 minutes ... but that's exactly what this film does, as the actions of Thomas the security guard grow ever crazier, bloodier, and deadly ... and Angela learns, very fast, what she'll have to do in order to survive.

The film has its flaws (stuffing Nichols' rather ample cleavage into a slip, for obvious gratuitous jollies, is just one of them), and occasionally strains credibility - but damn, from the first scene it also yanks you right into the movie, and doesn't let up in tension until the end. For that alone the film gets high marks, and is pure adrenaline-rushing entertainment to boot.

It'll also make you think twice about ever venturing into a darkened underground parking lot alone again - ever. Whether you're male or female. And that's probably not a bad thing, either. *** - Reel Cool