P2

As several critics who are far cleverer than what I am have pointed out, it’s tempting to read the taut horror thriller P2 as an allegory for the happenings in Guantanamo Bay. Whatever. This is no mere torture porn trifle.
A neat, perfectly nasty little stalker drama, Franck Khalfoun’s impressive debut thriller may be the best Xmas movie released out of season since Die Hard. Rachel Nichols, soon to be seen in the mighty Star Trek XI is the go-getter business minx who finds herself locked in the deserted subterranean company parking lot over Christmas and pursued by Wes Bentley’s psychopath.
It’s just one of those irresistible dynamics – cat and mouse, Roadrunner and coyote, unhinged pervert and final girl with heaving cleavage.
Mr. Khalfoun, the star of Switchblade Romance, makes his directorial debut with a screenplay co-written by gore merchant Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes). He might be a virgin filmmaker but he’s astute enough to imply sexual violation rather than subject the audience to it. If it weren’t for two spectacularly violent acts that follow, this could be an old-school killer B-movie from the ‘50s, a work of polished malevolence and dread. More please.

[98mins. Cert 18]