This winningly compact, pleasingly contemplative, psychologically twisted thriller is blessed with a truly exceptional cast which resolutely remains an engaging, and beautifully melancholy work of wickedly blackened comedy. 'Panic'is a bright, smartly constructed cinematic jewel that certainly hasn't lost any of its beguiling appeal. Once again, the exquisitely rumpled charisma of gifted actor William H. Macy is put to effective use as the existentially distressed Alex, Macy imbues his reluctant hitman with a relatable human frailty and resonating depth of feeling one only rarely sees in genre cinema, with John Ritter being no less fabulous as the increasingly beleaguered psychiatrist Dr. Parks, and canny writer/director Henry Bramwell's cool, powerfully compelling, unhurried film-making style is appealingly languid; much like a feeding constrictor, Bramwell's terse narrative's apparent languor and deliberate pacing belies a steely core which rigorously maintains its insistent grip until the film's deliciously fraught conclusion. Henry Bramwell's 'Panic' has a sardonic, tantalizing skewed view of dark family politics that I found impossible to resist!
'Alex is a completely normal Joe who kills people!'
'Alex is a completely normal Joe who kills people!'