Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Not my usual type of movie, but P2 gave me a good dose of creepy, scary, and believable angst. 

I had to feel bad for the protagonist in this movie.  She really doesn't do anything wrong, yet she finds herself in a horrible situation, fighting for her life.  Angela (Rachel Nichols) is doing what many of us have done: working late on Christmas Eve.  The last one to leave the office, she has a security officer ride the elevator down to the lobby with her, then crosses into the secure parking garage.  But luck's not on her side this evening, her car won't start. Thomas, the security guard (Wes Bentley) tries to help her, but in the end, she's left calling a taxi from the building's lobby. When the taxi shows up, she's dismayed to discover that the main doors from the lobby are locked.  No problem, she'll just go out through the garage.  But when she gets back to the garage, the security guard's nowhere to be found, to open the gate.  The impatient taxi takes off, and Angela's stuck inside the parking garage.  The security guard eventually shows back up, but he's not the nice man we thought he was.  It seems he's a bit, well, crazy.  And he's had a thing for Angela for quite some time.  And now that she's trapped in the garage with him, he's got plans for her.

The rest of the movie follows what happens when a nice woman is held captive by a man delving further and further into madness.  You can not help but feel bad for Angela.  Normally in a movie like this, the good guys make several ridiculous mistakes, and you almost feel like they deserve what's happening to them, for being so stupid.  But in this case, she really doesn't do too much wrong.  Sure, if I nitpick, I can find a thing here or there that she probably could have done differently, but this was definitely not a case of her stupidity causing her misery.

As for Thomas, well he's just a weird nutcase.  Not much is really given, as far as his background.  We just assume that he's a lonely man whose fantasies get the better of him and drive him over the edge.  At first, he comes off as child-like, and you don't think he's really going to cause Angela too much harm.  But as the evening goes on, he just gets crazier, and his plans become far more diabolical. 

There's a theme of Thomas "protecting" Angela that leads to an unbelievably graphic and gory scene of vengeance against one of Angela's co-workers.  Viewers should be warned about this particular scene.  It's very hard to watch.

Later, there's a scene with a dog, that's also very tough to watch.  They spared nothing in the gore department for this movie, that's for sure.

But, overall, I liked this movie far more than I thought I would.  Written by Alexander Aja, it gives far more nail-biting suspense, and downright scary stuff than I would have imagined.  Probably because it seems all too plausible.  Who among us hasn't worked late, and left the office alone?  I have.  And, yes, I've gotten to my car only to discover that it won't start.  Or I lost my keys.  Once I left work at two in the morning, and found I had two flat tires!  So, Angela's dilemma hit home with me.  And the writers/directors just made her whole ordeal seem realistic.

Overall, while this type of movie isn't normally my cup of tea, this one manages to be pretty good.  But beware of the gore factor.

Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age