[REVIEW] – P2

Director: Franck Khalfoun
Starring: Rachel Nichols, Wes Bentley
Certificate: 18
Run-time: 98 minutes

IN SHORT: P2 is a short but entertaining cat-and-mouse thriller that you’ll have fun watching but won’t remember in the morning!

The setting is Christmas Eve and Angela (Rachel Nichols), a career-oriented businesswoman, is the last to leave her office building. Her car refuses to start and she is forced to seek help from the overnight parking lot attendant, Tom who’s played by Wes Bentley (American Beauty). Guarding the parking lot overnight, Tom is understandably lonely and insists that Angela shares Christmas Eve with him. When Angela realises he won’t take no for an answer though, her Christmas Eve takes a sinister turn for the worse.

Wes Bentley’s portrayal as Tom is a definite highlight of the film. The character is obviously not right in the head as he quickly changes from caring and friendly to brooding and psychotic. He’s very much in the mould of Norman Bates – polite on the outside, batshit crazy on the inside. This unpredictability is what makes the film intriguing to watch because the audience aren’t really sure of his intentions. Is Tom a killer who wants nothing more than a bit of Xmas ultra-violence or is he suffering from a mental problem?

Wes Bentley effortlessly pulls off the creep role, maybe he’s not acting…

The cavernous confines of the parking lot are also a great setting and are used to the fullest. The chase scenes are well paced, keeping the audience’s adrenaline pumping constantly. The film also feels quite realistic, which can’t be said for most thrillers of this type where a simple charged phone would get them out of the situation. Angela is a strong, capable female who gives as good as she gets instead of running away screaming like a little girl. This is thanks to writer, Alexandre Aja who’s French break-out hit High Tension also features a strong, independent female with a mean streak.

However, not enough time was spent making Angela a likeable, sympathetic character. It’s an awkward moment when you’re watching a film and you realise that you’re actually rooting FOR the killer. Angela had no redeeming qualities as far as I could see. She is obviously a workaholic and her constant, busy schedule has contributed to the situation she is in. When her car won’t start, she throws a strop. Hey, it’s Christmas Eve and people want to get home, right? But when she meets Tom she is so rude and standoffish towards him, treating him like an idiot because of the job he does. She definitely exudes a ‘holier than thou’ attitude. If anything she needed this experience with death to sort her attitude out!

Angela just wanted an Ipad for Christmas, instead she got a crazy stalker named Tom.

If I’m not made to relate with the lead who’s about to get chopped up into little pieces then there is something undoubtedly wrong with the film. With a little more work on the script, the film could’ve been something truly memorable instead of run-of-the-mill. On a visual level, P2 stands out a little more with great camerawork and ridiculously bloody parts to boot. I’m also gonna give props to the lighting guys because no matter how dark the scene was, they always found a way to light Rachel Nichols’ fantastic boobs. So thanks lighting dudes.

To sum up – watch this at night and with a group of friends and enjoy it for the adrenaline-pumping, creepy ride that it is. P2 doesn’t light the horror genre up with dazzling originality or particularly memorable characters but it is a light, uncomplicated flick with a few lashings of blood for good measure.