Swift and stealthy P2 is a canny exploitation of one of the urban woman's greatest fears: the after-hours parking garage.
P2 (2007)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:67
Fresh:23
Rotten:44
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: P2 is full of gore, but low on suspense, featuring a cat-and-mouse plot has been done many times before.
Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong violence/gore, terror and language.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:02-05-2008
Synopsis: Most people who have been alone in a parking garage have probably felt vulnerable to an attacker amidst the silence of the cold concrete walls, but what would you do if your assailant were the... Most people who have been alone in a parking garage have probably felt vulnerable to an attacker amidst the silence of the cold concrete walls, but what would you do if your assailant were the attendant? That's the question posed by P2, which fits into that sub-genre of thrillers that unfold in one primary location (think Mario Bava's KIDNAPPED, PHONE BOOTH, or WIND CHILL). The script, co-written by Alexandre Aja (THE HILLS HAVE EYES, HIGH TENSION), Franck Khalfoun, and Gregory Levasseur, offers a basic cat-and-mouse tale with a couple of jolts of bone-rattling gore. It's Christmas Eve, and young New York executive Angela (Rachel Nichols) is the last to leave her office before heading to New Jersey for a holiday with the family. Already late, she is dismayed to find that her car won't start. The handsome, seemingly helpful garage attendant, Thomas (Wes Bentley), checks out the car for her, but to no avail. The next thing she knows, Angela wakes up in the garage office in a dress, chained to a chair, with a Christmas dinner laid out before her. Thomas has been watching her for a long time, and with everyone else gone for Christmas, he finally has her alone. Angela will have to fight with everything she has to make it through to Christmas morning. Under the first-time direction of co-screenwriter Khalfoun, P2 is a solid thriller that delivers ample action, despite being an amped-up two-person stage play. Nichols is an appealing heroine in a physically demanding role, while Bentley's wacko Thomas never veers into cartoonishness. This isn't one for the SAW crowd, though the two brief moments of splatter are certainly of that gross-out caliber. Vintage Christmas songs are also used to strong effect. [More]
Starring: Wes Bentley, Rachel Nichols
Starring: Wes Bentley, Rachel Nichols
Director: Franck Khalfoun
Director: Franck Khalfoun
Screenwriter: Franck Khalfoun, Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
Story: Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
Producer: Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur, Patrick Wachsberger, Erik Feig
Composer: Tomandandy
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Reviews for P2
a strictly middle-of-the-road entry in the slasher genre, scoring points for performances and areas of execution but running out of creative juice far too early, settling for stock chills and thrills
Like a driver lost in a parking garage, this awful splatter-fest spends its time going in circles accomplishing nothing.
An efficient scare package that breaks no new ground but gets the job done.
...a welcome respite from the awards-season fodder currently flooding cinemas.
... a well-tooled premise executed with surprising restraint, at least compared to the gore-centric sadism of the current crop of horror films.
Sometimes a hoary old cliche can come bubbling back to life if handled in a respectful and direct manner - and this describes P2 perfectly.
A serviceable gore-minded thriller --- a competent execution of a premise that ultimately becomes hampered by its inherent constraints.
The majority of [director Khalfoun's] chase and fight scenes are so artlessly staged that they render suspense moot.
It sounds like a formula slasher film, but it's actually done well.
On the elevator button scale of horror, I would say that P2 is not as scary as LL1, but a massive improvement over GRND LVL.
You would be better off spending 96 minutes stuck in the parking garage of the movie theater instead of in the multiplex watching it%u2013at the very least, the carbon monoxide fumes probably won't kill as many brain cells.
Bentley doesn't have what it takes to be creepy and scary. He's too pretty. I have a feeling most women in the audience would be quite happy if he tied them up
Who decided that a horrorfest set in an underground parking garage needed to be made?
P2 struggles to maintain its momentum because there's simply not enough to do in a parking garage to fill out a feature film.
A mostly threadbare Christmas stocking with too many plot holes to patch.
Though the filmmakers probably believe it becomes some sort of female-empowerment vehicle in the end, it's really just another thriller that relishes in the victimization of women.
Latest News for P2
December 25, 2008:
Further Reading: Seasonal Slaying - The 12 Horrors of Christmas
Thanks to Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol, the Yuletide season has long been associated with ghost stories -- often with hard-won uplift at the end, like Scrooge being... More...
October 10, 2008:
Exclusive: Alexandre Aja talks Mirrors and Piranha 3D
We caught up with Aja for his only UK interview to learn more about the movie as well as his latest project, a 3D remake of Joe Dante's classic Piranha. More...
April 07, 2008:
RT on DVD: There Will Be Blood Drinks Lions for Lambs, Dewey Cox's Milkshakes
P. T. Anderson's Oscar-winning oil opus There Will Be Blood hits shelves this week, so if you missed Daniel Day-Lewis' astounding turn as the prospector with a heart as black as... More...
December 19, 2007:
G.I. Joe's Storm Shadow and Scarlett Chosen?
We already know Ray Park and Sienna Miller are part of Stephen Sommers' G.I. Joe cast. How about a little old-fashioned rumormongering about a pair of potential additions? More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

