Although director David Fincher spent the 80s making some of the most influential music videos of the decade (if not all time), and then made his feature film debut with his vision of the next entry in the Alien franchise in 1992, it wasn’t really until three years later when people started saying his name in larger public circles. That was of course the Brad Pitt thriller Se7en, a groundbreaking detective story that remains one of the most significant movies ever made in the genre.
Naturally, fans were hungry for more, and the visionary filmmaker didn’t disappoint, offering up another clever twister in The Game in ’97 and of course Fight Club in ’99 (with Pitt again), the later building a massive cult following that to this day still has resonance. Fincher then followed this up with another thriller, though decidedly different from the others, this one contained entirely within the limits of a large home and as with all his movies, stuffed it with themes and symbolism that offered plenty for interpretation. It’s Panic Room with Jodie Foster in the lead, a home invasion story with a few twists in the line, as expected, and while the movie did well in theaters, it hasn’t had the legacy of most other Fincher films. Let’s change that. Here’s 5 reasons why it’s time you finally watched.
5 That Moment When They Break In
The movie is set in New York City, with the recently divorced Meg Altman (Foster) and her 11-year-old daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) moving into a palatial four-story brownstone. As the title of the film suggests, the realtors showcase a large ‘panic room’ in the house, featuring concrete walls, closed-circuit security monitors, a PA system, an outside phone line, and more. Meg and Sarah do their best to settle in, Meg still shaken by the betrayal of her husband, running off with a younger woman. What she doesn’t know is that the previous owner (deceased), hid bearer bonds in a floor safe inside the panic room, something his grandson (Jared Leto) comes looking for with a couple of pals one rainy night. Fincher tracks the men’s slow entry into the building with a spectacular single shot that leads the camera away from a sleeping, vulnerable Meg in bed upstairs, down through the house to the front window where the men pull up and then surround the home looking for a way in, the whole time, sliding and lifting and sweeping the camera uninterrupted through the building in a breathtaking sequence that is, the first time you see it, powerfully thematic as it gives breadth and depth to the house. Sure, it’s CGI enhanced as it the camera goes through floors, keyholes, walls, and coffee pot handles, but as a storytelling device is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
4 A Patient Burnham
The heist is sort of orchestrated by a guy named Junior (Leto), a loose canon of sorts who is all action and no brains in his cornrow hair and jittery disposition. He’s got a thug named Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) in a ski mask as the heavy, who is about as heartless as they come, and then there’s Burnham (Forest Whitaker), an employee of the security company in charge of the panic room’s installation. He signed on thinking there was no one in the house, believing they could walk in and get the bonds, but that changed once they discovered Meg and Sarah. Now he’s sort of in doubt about the whole thing but needs the money so pursues a peaceful way out of the dilemma, much to the begrudgment of his co-conspirators. While Junior and Raoul get aggressive, destruction their method in trying to ply the women out of the room, Burnham uses his brains. Whitaker is really good as the level-headed criminal, cautious, anticipatory, logical, and intelligent, always a few steps ahead of Junior and his cronie. Fincher constantly pits him as the reflection of Raoul, two ends of the sea-saw Junior tries to manage, and Whitaker takes this line and runs with it, delivering one of his best performances. Any bad guy conflicted by what he’s doing makes him a hundred percent more interesting.
3 Meg’s Fire Plan
One of the most satisfying things in a movie like this is the game of one upmanship where we learn that our hero is smarter on her feet than we might have given her credit for. It’s the classic “how on Earth can she ever get out of that mess” scenario where a devislish trap is set that seems utterly impossible to get out of it but then she does anyway, usually by just being plain wicked smart. Right before the halfway mark, an extended scene has the invaders struggling to get the women out of the panic room before Burnham gets an idea; force them out by pumping propane gas through the ventilation. He finds the pipes in the walls, manages to drill into one and then runs a garden hose from the tank in. This soon begins to flood the panic room with poisonous fumes. While the men argue about the merits (or lack thereof) of how much to send in, Meg needs to think fast, trying to protect Sarah while not succumbing to the threat. Already, if you’re paying attention to the movie, you’ll have noticed a clue to her solution in the storage bins left inside the panic room, one that includes a fire blanket and an ignitor. How Fincher frames this and then lets it build is truly suspenseful, allowing a showcase of how Meg is no slouch, just as creative in defense as her attackers are in offensive. It’s a very cool bit.
2 Movement Over Dialogue
Fincher movies are famous for their words just as much as their action, but with Panic Room, it’s all about how things move in the multi-tiered set, giving him unique opportunities to explore just that. In one gripping moment, not long after Meg’s Fire Plan, he orchestrates a terrific piece of action that centers on what we see rather than what’s said. While the three men become engrossed in an argument at the bottom of a flight of stairs, Meg sees a chance to slip out of the panic room and retrieve her cell phone, last seen on the nightstand right outside the door. Fincher mutes the talking men, slowing it all down to a sort of distorted muffle as Meg creeps her way out into danger, eventually knocking over a lamp, signaling Junior and the others she is exposed. It’s a brief sequence but so creatively executed it’s got rewind written all over it. What’s smart about it is how Fincher uses it to close the verbal jousting going on with the men, who are in growing conflict over who to trust and how much money they should split, now that things have escalated. You become interested in where that’s going, and as Burnham jumps into the fray, just as he opens his mouth, the sound goes off and we never hear his contribution, reminding the audience that their story doesn’t matter, that this is the fight for survival of two woman only, their actions what matter. Brilliant.
1 Mother and Daughter
Where else could this end but with Meg and Sarah? What the movie does right with this relationship is treat it with respect. Sarah is bitter of course, angry at her father for his choices, trying to find some independence in a world that’s flipped upside down. Yet she’s not the typical angsty type, dour but not cynical. She’s reluctant to move into this new home, claiming the bedroom with the panic room right away, decorating it like a personal hideaway rather than a place of safety before it becomes needed for just that. Meanwhile, Meg is lonely and saddened, a little mistrustful of anything and yet cares deeply for her daughter, Sarah diabetic – perhaps the one tropey trapping of the genre screenwriter David Koepp just couldn’t avoid. Either way, how these women work together in support of outwitting the wolves beating at their door is what the whole movie is about, and while those inclined to do so analyze the film’s message as empowerment and metaphorical for its themes of divorce and coming of age in modern times, the grounded, authenticity of what Foster and a very young Stewart do together is moving and thrilling. You don’t have to read into anything to get behind the humanity of their plight, fear for their safety, and celebrate their intelligence. They’re every reason to finally watch Panic Room.