7. Panic Room (2002)
A perfectly decent, taut thriller, Panic Room is a well made film that functions as solid entertainment without posing too many larger questions for us to ponder. A mother and her young daughter find that their new home is being invaded by burglars. Luckily, they have an impenetrable panic room, where they can hide out and call for help. Or so it seems. Clever script work forces one impossible situation after another, dumping tension on top of tension until the films climax. Fincher is on point in Panic Room, and its interesting to see him working with a female lead (Jodie Foster) after featuring predominately masculine casts in his last three films (Seven, The Game, Fight Club). With this film, we see Fincher coming more and more into his modern visual style, easing off of the excessive grittiness of his earlier films and instead focusing on more muted, dark colors, specific framing, and expert craftsmanship. Panic Room isnt a great film, but its a solid one. Minor Fincher, but full of great thrills.