Since they succumbed to the allure of Hollywood, French filmmakers
Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur have lost their way.
Their 2003 thriller Switchblade Romance (Haute Tension) was a tour de
force of sickening suspense, with an unforgettable narrative sleight of
hand that sent shivers down the spine.
It was an impressive calling card and America answered, recruiting the
friends as writer-directors of a forgettable remake of Wes Craven's The
Hills Have Eyes.
Now, Aja and Levasseur squander their talents on this derivative game of
cat and mouse around a deserted car park, co-writing the flawed
screenplay with first-time director Franck Khalfoun.
Regrettably, P2 (the level of the subterranean multi-storey car park
where most of the film unfolds) is as vacant of creativity and invention
as the poorly lit setting.
Moreover, the balance of power is weighted so heavily in favour of the
mentally unhinged predator that we relinquish any concern for his
victim.
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Workaholic executive Angela (Nichols) stays behind late in the office on
Christmas Eve, to the chagrin of her family who are waiting for her to
return home with presents and various festive costumes and decorations.
When she finally leaves, Angela discovers that he car won't start, even
with some tinkering under the bonnet from security guard Thomas
(Bentley), who invites her to share his dinner in the guard station.
She foolishly rebuffs his clumsy advances and wakes, tied to a chair,
staring into Thomas's soulless eyes.
P2 (18, 97 mins)
Released: May 2
At first, Angela tries to plead with the guard to set her free.
"I have plans," she tells him. "I guess some plans are meant to be
broken," he responds coldly.
Then when tact and feminine charm fail to elicit a favourable response,
she takes matters onto her own hands, using physical force to escape his
clutches.
P2 is gratuitously violent, not least the horrific fate that befalls one
of Angela's co-workers, who drunkenly gropes her at the office party -
an indiscretion witnessed by voyeur Thomas on the building's array of
CCTV cameras.
The promise of more wanton bloodshed hangs in the air, especially when
Angela starts running around with a hefty metal axe.
Occasional ingenuity on the part of the security guard (flushing Angela
out of her sanctuary in a stationary elevator) are offset by her
stupidity.
The piece de resistance is Angela's decision to crawl into a confined
space, where she will be at the mercy of Thomas's slavering Rottweiler.
Somehow, she manages to fend off the snarling beast, setting up her
co-star with the laughable line: "Why would you do that: kill a
defenceless animal?"
Bentley doesn't convince for a second as a crazed stalker - he doesn't
have the acting chops - while Nichols gives us no reason to root for her
stricken businesswoman as she proves that nothing conjures the festive
spirit quite like roasting someone's chestnuts on an open fire.
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