Panic Room is another of Fincher's taut thrillers. A mother and daughter have moved into a new house, containing a 'panic room'. This is a sealed room the residents can hide in if their home is invaded. Inside it is a telephone on a separate underground line and video surveillance equipment for the house. Meg (Foster) originally finds the room quite disconcerting, but when three criminals break into her home, she locks herself and her daughter in there. The problem is that what the criminals want is inside the panic room. What follows is a series of twists and turns as everyone tries to outwit each other.
While Panic Room is less unusual than some of Fincher's other efforts, it is still identifiably a Fincher film. It uses similar camera tricks to many of Fincher's other films that add to the tension surrounding the plot. The script manages to avoid anything overly predictable or stupid, resulting in an essentially believable thriller that will keep you gripped throughout.

Nicholas Van Orten (played well by Douglas) is the middle-aged businessman, self-assured and always in control. That is, until his 48th birthday, when his younger brother (Penn) gets him a mysterious present: a ticket to a game by 'Consumer Recreation Services'.
We follow Van Orton as he is drawn deeper into the game, losing his self-assurance and control along the way - although he refuses to admit this - until he finally reaches his breaking point. In some ways the atmosphere of the movie is similar to the last third of Fincher's following film, Fight Club, with the same sense of the protagonist's confusion and powerlessness in the face of the events which are sweeping him along. The dramatic, unexpected plot twists that have become something of a Fincher trademark are here in force, making this movie engrossing and entertaining. If you enjoy a genuine thriller, The Game shouldn't disappoint. If you haven't seen it before, it's definitely worth a viewing - especially if you've liked Fincher's other films.