Jodie Foster plays Meg Altman, a recently divorced woman who moves into a large Manhattan home with her daughter. The lavish home has seemingly everything, including a vault-like room that is impenetrable from the outside. This special room is what the whole plot is based around, and Panic Room doesn’t waste any time making use of it. On the first night of their stay in their new house invaders bust in and Meg and her daughter lock themselves into the room. The problem is: the criminals don’t want them, they want what’s in that room.

The setup for this film is wonderful and it gives the filmmakers a grand opportunity to play out an onscreen cat-and-mouse game. The story is tight and simplistic and that keeps Fincher in line. This time his visuals don’t bog down the story, but instead, enhance it. His camera swoops through floors and rooms and makes the entire house into a maze.

However, that doesn’t mean that Panic Room makes complete sense. There are holes in the plot, and you may even find yourself shouting out at the characters while they do ridiculous things. But, frankly, that also works in the film’s favor, and it even has the smarts to poke fun at itself when one of the criminals blurts out, "Why didn’t we do that?"

Panic Room is not as gripping as Se7en, and its ending is pretty easy to guess at. But all the suspense is in exactly how it arrives at that ending. It does take a few unexpected turns and that keeps it entertaining.