Panic Room
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: March 29, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
13
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
There is something horribly apt in the way Fincher closes the drama in joyless exhaustion, leaving you certain that there will be a sequel to these events, not onscreen but in someone's home, tonight. [8 April 2002, p. 95]
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Ingeniously scary.
90
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
An old-house thriller retrofitted for the 21st century without any touch of unneeded flash, Panic Room is scary enough to do for downtown living what Jaws did for beaches. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Fincher eschews quick cuts in favor of long, leisurely ones. He knows what he's doing, and the proof is in the result. The suspense in Panic Room never ebbs, and that makes for a thoroughly entertaining -- if somewhat exhausting -- 108 minutes. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Richly frightening film. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Smartly plotted, convincingly acted and brilliantly executed technically, this engrossing thriller adds some clever modern wrinkles to the time-tested formula of sinister intruders threatening innocents in their home. Read full review
80
Film ThreatDavid Grove
A very scary film, well made and lovingly dark, and it illustrates how terrified we are of becoming the victims we see on TV. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Always adept at hitting emotional cues cleanly, Foster in this role also lets herself get lost in the moment, which is something she hasn't often allowed herself to do since "The Silence of the Lambs." Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie, which suggests a combination of "Wait Until Dark" and "Rear Window," not only takes your breath away on an aesthetic level, it eloquently evokes the mother's and daughter's vulnerability. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Panic Room is Fincher's high-style testament to the cool things movies can do to make us jump out of our seats in the dark. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie resembles a chess game; the board and all of the pieces are in full view, both sides know the rules, and the winner will simply be the better strategist. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Defies logic, the laws of physics and almost anyone's willingness to believe in it. But darned if it doesn't also keep us riveted to our seats. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Well-paced, well-structured nail-biter with precious little of the usual Hollywood nonsense, several virtuoso sequences, and a camera flourish that only occasionally gets silly. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Acceptably diverting Saturday night at the movies, especially if you're willing to check your brains at the popcorn stand. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's pure popcorn entertainment, and it's pure formula, too: It's already been described, somewhat derisively, as Home Alone for grown-ups, which is not entirely off the mark. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Generally makes good on its promise. There are shivers to be felt, especially in the early stages, and there's fun to be had, including the post-movie pleasure of detecting the soft spots in the plot. The result is an always-watchable picture from a director capable of more. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Fincher has a dazzling command of visual storytelling. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
May actually appeal more to women than men because of the steely heroine, the pitting of love of family against love of filthy lucre -- and the mom-fights-back plot.
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Works the basics with style and intelligence. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Jodie Foster stars, and it's a pleasure, for once, to see her in something entertaining and mindless. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
An above-average thriller. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Schickel
A fairly standard exercise in claustrophobic menace. It is also an exercise in style. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Things move fast enough to make it a movie to enjoy and then forget. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
Panic Room is fluidly made, and it keeps the audience quiet and unpleasantly gripped. But the only surprise is the absence of surprise; that trap is in too-plain view. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A well-crafted exercise in urban paranoia that's so controlled it never achieves the reckless, visceral immediacy its subject matter demands. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
What's surprising about this traditional thriller, moderately successful but not completely satisfying, is exactly how genteel and unsurprising the execution turns out to be. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Soon enough a pointed ode to New York City nerve-rack and survival skills dissolves into a far more average, less compelling, and sometimes just slapdash-vicious cat-and-mouse game. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Might give you a few decorating ideas if you happen to have been wondering about a home bomb shelter, but it's a thriller that doesn't thrill. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Feels like a Fincher film: It possesses the same smarts, the same visual panache, the same violence. But not the same heart. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
I was never bored but only occasionally interested. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The kind of joyless, over-calculated hit that may leave viewers feeling not haunted but headachy. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Foster is fine, but the story's outcome would seem a tad more uncertain if another actress had the part. How scary are three New York tough guys when you've handled Hannibal Lecter in your time? Read full review
40
SalonCharles Taylor
Might be entertaining for those who like seeing a terrified teenage girl watch a loved one get beaten to a pulp while she slides into a diabetic coma. For the rest of us it's both stagnant and vaguely unpleasant. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Like the shelter for which it is named, Panic Room is an efficiently tooled construction (albeit one whose success is overly predicated on its villains' single-minded idiocy). But unlike the eponymous treasure trove, there's nothing inside. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
It's difficult to work up a strong case of the heebie-jeebies when you keep getting thrown out of the movie by all the atrocious acting. Read full review
40
New Times (L.A.)Robert Wilonsky
The cumulative effect is less thrilling than it is merely amusing. Read full review
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