Terror in a Parking Garage: P2 Movie Review

Sometimes when you rent a movie you get very pleasantly surprised. When I had seen all the big name films and was looking for something else I came across P2. It only takes a second or two to figure out that P2 refers to a level in a big office building garage. Turns out the movie is one terrific suspense thriller based on a very simple concept. It works because of fine acting and first rate direction that keeps you at the edge of seat.

The story is all about the awful predicament that a young female attorney played by the beautiful Rachel Nichols finds herself in. Late on Christmas eve after working too long and hard on a project she finds that a car on level P2 will not start. The garage is empty and foreboding. We soon get introduced to the other main character played by Wes Bentley that I remembered fondly from American Beauty, one of my all time favorites. He is the garage attendant. At first he seems helpful. But boy do things change quickly.

The plot is basically about the predator-prey relationship and, in a most positive way, it reveals how an intelligent, seemingly disadvantaged woman, can persevere against a psychotic man determined to get whatever he wants. It is a very intense psychological battle of wits. On one level you think that she will somehow survive the ordeal, but on another level it appears that everything is stacked against her - including a vicious dog that the attendant has.

Nearly all of the film takes place in the large, dark and threatening underground garage. Yet through clever direction and incredibly fast-paced action you cannot take your eyes off the screen.

No one who watches this movie will ever enter such a parking garage and not feel some anxiety.

If you want some cinematic excitement, go rent P2.