20th Nov2016

Panic (Film)

by timbaros

image-17-11-2016-at-18-38Andrew (David Gyasi) is afraid to leave his apartment, but when the attractive oriental neighbor in the building across the street from his apartment disappears, he is determined to overcome his fears to find her.

Due to an altercation that resulted in him being knifed, music journalist Andrew conducts his work, and affairs, in his home. But when Amy (Pippa Nixon), a married woman he meets online, comes over for a hanky panky session, she’s witnesses through the window a man beating up a woman, a woman who Andrew is infatuated with. Andrew is concerned for her safety, and he wants Amy to go with him to tell the police, but she’s doesn’t want to (her husband will then find out she was at Andrew’s flat), so it’s up to Andrew to investigate her disappearance himself. This means overcoming his fear of leaving his flat, which he ultimately does, which then takes him to a seedy underworld of Chinese gangsters and human trafficking. His life gets threatened but will he be able to locate the woman while at the same time not getting himself killed at the same time?

‘Panic’ is writer/director Sean Spencer’s striking feature film debut. It’s a very good debut – Spencer keeps the suspense going throughout the film – especially when Andrew is navigating his way in London’s underworld. Shot over eighteen days in East London, with some scenes shot in unbroken takes, ‘Panic’ gives us a fictional account where migrant labor and the criminal world intersect. Fine acting and an excellent score by Christopher Nicholas Bangs perfectly set up the scenes of confusion and paranoia, scenes that are part of Andrew’s, and perhaps ours, daily life.

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