Panic Room

David Fincher’s 2002 film is built on a deadlock: the bonds the intruders want are in a floor safe inside the room Meg and Sarah lock themselves into, so neither can move. What breaks it is not a clever stroke but Sarah’s diabetes: her syringes are in the bedroom. One of the three, Burnham, works for the home security company. Nicole Kidman played Meg for a fortnight from January 2001, until a hairline fracture below the knee, left from Moulin Rouge!, took her out; Jodie Foster stepped in with a week to prepare. Kidman stayed on as the uncredited off-screen voice of the ex-husband’s girlfriend. Foster then turned out to be pregnant, production was suspended, and the opening scene was shot after she gave birth that September. Darius Khondji left early; Conrad W. Hall, son of Conrad L. Hall, finished it. The famous unbroken glide through the house was not done on set. BUF in Paris built it from eight live plates and hundreds of large-format stills; visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug says virtually no instant of it was not generated in 3D. A good fit if you want the floor plan taught early and the tension coming from who knows the room. Not for anyone waiting for the stalemate to break on a clever move.