Panic Room

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Panic Room

R

2002

1h 52m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

191 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her young daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) and Junior (Jared Leto) - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

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Critics Consensus

Elevated by David Fincher's directorial talent and Jodie Foster's performance, Panic Room is a well-crafted, above-average thriller.

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Namrata Joshi

Outlook

Jan 3, 2019

2/4

Leaving you utterly dissatisfied...

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Dec 27, 2010

4/5

Extreme suspense, graphic violence; not for kids.

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Todd McCarthy

Variety

Mar 27, 2009

A thinking-man's women-in-jeopardy picture, Panic Room does about as much as humanly possible with its deliberately restricted one-setting premise.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Oct 15, 2025

8/10

Panic Room is a beautifully performed, inventively shot commercial thriller that uses a narrow physical setting to ratchet up tension and a smartly written screenplay to give the characters an uncharacteristic level of depth and complexity.

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Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Apr 7, 2025

4/5

Taut and tense, Panic Room represents a smaller scale effort from director David Fincher that is no less meticulously crafted than his previous films.

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Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Apr 2, 2025

4/5

It may not be a "top tier" Fincher film, but this popcorn thriller is hugely entertaining and deserves more respect. It's a great time at the movies.

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Richard L

@KaneLives Sep 2, 2026

The very definition of 'fine', Panic Room takes a very simple concept and certainly does do a lot with it, but not enough to make it really stand out.

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bruce F

@bruce999 Aug 4, 2026

it is well done, and the bad guys go a little too far. nice suspense.

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TWMax65 T

@RT38199094 Jul 5, 2026

This movie took some unexpected twists and turns for sure and was suspenseful a few times. Some things seemed a bit too impractical though and far-fetched for my taste a few times. Nevertheless, I liked the performances and the subject matter and it was fun watching it with my girlfriend too! Jody Foster in particular did well!

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Richard D

@Kahouli1 Jun 4, 2026

Pretty cool concept. As usual the women are both smart and tough while 2 out of the 3 guys are idiots. Imagine if the roles were reversed. Feminists would be complaining it was sexist but as long as the guys are portrayed as idiots, the man haters love it. Could have a really good movie but sadly the woke girl power crap poked it's ugly head even back then.

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Brent G

@bgillett86 Mar 9, 2026

What lacks in story is more than made up for in David Fincher's deft film making ability. Plus we get baby sized Kristen Stewart which is always fun and weird to see.

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Hollis Q

@Hollisqueens Oct 16, 2025

Yet more top-shelf terror from director David Fincher, the man behind such popular pulse-pounders as Seven, The Game and Fight Club.

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David Fincher

Director

Jodie Foster

Meg Altman

Forest Whitaker

Burnham

Dwight Yoakam

Raoul

Jared Leto

Junior

Kristen Stewart

Sarah Altman

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Synopsis

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her young daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) and Junior (Jared Leto) - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

Director: David Fincher
Producer: Ceán Chaffin, Judy Hofflund, David Koepp, Gavin Polone
Screenwriter: David Koepp
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Hofflund/Polone, Columbia Pictures
Rating: R (Violence|Language)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 29, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $95.3M
Runtime: 1h 52m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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