In 2005, American audiences were introduced to a new purveyor of fine horror product, Alexandre Aja, whose film Haute Tension (High Tension in the US) was unleashed on the unsuspecting masses. It was a great exercise in old school slasher, until the unfortunate ending. This led directly to his English language debut, a successful new take on The Hills Have Eyes.
His skills have arrived once again on the big screen, although only as a writer. He is championing a new visionary to the screen in Franck Khalfoun, who makes his directorial debut with P2. He also got to work with Aja and Gregory Levasseur on the script. His last work came as an actor in Haute Tension.
How well does P2 succeed? Quite well; it exceeded my expectations in its ability to create genuine tension and deliver the thrills in an organic manner without having to rely too heavily on genre cliches. Yes, the cliches are there, but their resolution is borne out in a more believable manner than would be expected.
Rachel Nichols is Angela. She works for a law firm (I gather) and is in the office late on Christmas Eve. Everyone else in the building, save for a security guard, has gone home. Angela finishes up her work and heads down to the P2 parking level to head to her sister's for a family gathering. Of course, nothing goes as planned.
As she gets to her car, she finds it doesn't start. This brings her into contact with the lonely parking attendant, Thomas (Wes Bentley). Now is when the tension truly begins to rise. You see, the loneliness of being the lone parking attendant in the dark, wet, grimy parking garage can do things to one's brain. Thomas has gone a little nutter spending the long lonely nights in the garage, patrolling the emptiness. Give someone a little power and a lot of alone time and they begin to thirst for companionship at any cost and have a heightened sense of right and wrong, potentially fostering thoughts of vigilantism. Angela's car troubles and a recent incident at a company Christmas party are all that is needed to spark Thomas to take his dreams and ideals to the next level.
The premise of P2 is a simple one, simple enough to drive the cynical horror fan running for the exit. However, that would be a mistake. Despite the simple setup, the execution is first rate. This is due to the script, the performances, and the taut direction. No, there is nothing particularly revolutionary about the film and it is not likely to end up on any "best of" lists, but it should not be ignored. I went in with low expectations, and was rewarded with something that vastly exceeded them.
The script is a good one that sets up the cliches but doesn't fall prey to them. The dialogue is realistic and very believable. It sets up the woman-in-danger scenario that we have seen time and time again over the years, yet creates interesting ways of allowing her to get out of said cliches without becoming a cliche itself. The script also gives us some clever banter between the stalker and the stalked, as well as interactions with other characters (like the cops that show up) that do not feel like your typical movie characters.
Article comments
1 - jessica
If anyone has seen this movie and can take the time to write down just about everything that happened in the movie I would greatly appreciate it