Although it's quite blood-curdling, P2 emerges as a captivating thriller. After reading an article about a woman who survived a brutal attack in a parking garage, first-time director Franck Khalfoun co-wrote the film's screenplay with Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur. Their frightening story takes place on Christmas Eve.

Angela Bridges (Rachel Nichols) is working after hours to complete a report before going to her family’s holiday celebration. She calls her mother to tell her she’s done at the office, then takes an elevator to level P2 of her building’s parking garage. After unlocking her vehicle, Angela becomes increasingly irritated when it refuses to start. Realizing the garage is deserted, she tries to use her cellular phone to call a taxi but can’t get an adequate signal, so she walks down several ramps, hoping to reach the street.

Thomas (Wes Bentley), a security guard, startles Angela when he approaches her to see why she’s stumbling around the garage in the dark. Angela asks Thomas to call her a taxi, but he insists on going back to his office for a pair of jumper cables. After failing to get Angela’s car started Thomas asks her to have dinner with him in his office. When Angela turns him down, Thomas attacks her and delivers repeated kicks to her body as well as several blows to her head. No wonder Angela passes out! 

Awakening to find herself chained to a table in Thomas’s office, Angela soon  discovers her attacker  is a psychotic recluse who became infatuated with her after watching her on the building’s security videos. She manages to distract him long enough to unlock the shackles around both her legs. She bolts from the office, desperately trying to navigate her way through the garage in pitch-darkness.

Angela's task becomes increasingly difficult because Thomas knows every inch of the garage. However, she  must evade him as he gives pursuit. In order to survive, Angela has to find a way out of the garage.

Perfectly cast as Thomas, Bentley had the enormous task of portraying someone who’s kind and sincere as well as instantly deranged. Nichols also puts in a solid, believable turn as Angela. Khalfoun states that Angela and Thomas are both prisoners of level P2, for the claustrophobic Angela must rise above her paralyzing condition while Thomas cannot stand to be alone in the same area for another moment that night.

The real strength of this film lies with Khalfoun’s deft direction and Maxime Alexandre’s ominous and brooding cinematography. Alexandre uses bold colors to introduce audiences to Angela and then mixes them with darkness, silhouettes, and shadows as she finds herself in peril. P2 is a terrifying thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.

(Released by Summit Entertainment and rated “R” for strong violence/gore, terror and language.)