Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. 100
    Seeps with melancholy, old wounds, repressed anger, lust. That it is also caustically funny and heartwarming is miraculous.
  2. 100
    Unfolds like quietly engrossing short fiction, reminding us that there are few things more pleasurable than being in the hands of a good storyteller.
  3. A handsome, absorbing debut feature by the fiction and television writer Henry Bromell.
  4. Reviewed by: Megan Rosenfeld
    90
    Anyone interested in serious film should absolutely not miss it.
  5. Reviewed by: Robert K. Elder
    88
    Graced by bleak, stylized direction and an insightful ending that suggests that nothing ever really ends, this first feature film by "Northern Exposure" and "Homicide" writer and producer Bromell is a promising debut.
  6. 88
    In the full-house ensemble of Henry Bromell's Panic, Neve Campbell is the wild card.
  7. 83
    Panic never lets you forget that Donald Sutherland can be one of America's greatest actors.
  8. Reviewed by: Frank Lovece
    80
    From the opening lines to the epilogue (one of the film's few misfires), this taut first feature from TV producer and novelist Henry Bromell sustains a taut mood of unease and isolation, and the ensemble performances (TV starlet Campbell's included) have the qualities of the highest-caliber stage work.
  9. 80
    A small movie, to be sure, but it's also a thoroughly original one.
  10. 80
    Enigmas make Panic involving, and suspenseful.
  11. 80
    A sneaky and smart film noir.
  12. Hopefully find the audience it deserves.
  13. 75
    This bleak, oh-so-dark comedy is one of the best movies you almost didn't get to see.
  14. A small gem in the postholiday depression.
  15. A defiantly offbeat and accomplished piece with a dream ensemble acting out one man's nightmare, it deserves not to fall through the cracks.
  16. Not the kind of movie anyone will remember at Oscar time. But no one who sees it will forget it.
  17. A nifty little neo-film noir that's a lot more intriguing and watchable than half the films that make it to the multiplexes.
  18. 70
    Steeped in metaphor as it is, Panic offers a more naturalistic analysis of male midlife crisis than the grotesquely overpraised "American Beauty."
  19. A lot of this is quite well done, but Bromell has a tendency to have too schematic an aesthetic agenda for his story: treating film noir like kabuki is not necessarily the best way to go, no matter how beautifully you do it.
  20. 60
    This bright noir, with gleaming cinematography by Jeffrey Jur, is as single-minded as a short story, but the premise is almost too clever.
  21. The atmosphere is more compelling than the plot, but the story does pack a surprise or two.
  22. Boasts some genuinely intelligent and funny sequences and some nicely painful scenes of domestic tension - as well as surprisingly strong performances from actors like Neve Campbell and Donald Sutherland.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. JayH
    6
    Fine story, a little too slow moving, but the cast is great, particularly William H. Macy. Good writing. Barbara Bain is fine in a supporting role.
  2. NickA.
    9
    In his first go as a Hollywood director, Henry Brommell whips an enthralling yarn that is all of penetrating relatable marital issues with melancholic authenticity, and lacing such with an equally absorbing subplot of a father-son hitman business. The film is directed astutely and consists of a wonderfully put together cast as well as a swift, family-conscious screenplay (also by Brommell) that brings life to an otherwise fatigued genre. As a bonus, 'Panic' delivers subtle, acerbic humor—an unexpected, undeniably charming, and very welcome surprise—through its bumbling, unsure-of-himself, low-key star, whose ever-cool state is enticing, especially given his line of work. The forever-great William H. Macy again captures our hearts as Alex, a unhappy, torn, middle-aged husband and father who finds solace in the most dubious of persons: a young, attractive, equally-messed-up 23-year-old named Sarah (Neve Campbell), whom he meets in the waiting-room at a psychologist’s office, where he awaits the therapy of Dr. Josh Parks (John Ritter) to discuss his growing eagerness to quit the family business that his father (Donald Sutherland) built. Alex, whose lust to lead a new life is obstructed by the fear of disappointing his dictating father, strikes an unwise fancy for Sarah, which ultimately leads him to understand the essence and irrefutable responsibility of being a husband to his wife and, more importantly to him, a good father to his six-year-old son, Sammy (played enthusiastically by the endearing David Dorfman). Henry Brommell’s brilliant 'Panic' is something of a rarity in Hollywood seldom seen (with the exception of 2002’s 'Road to Perdition') since its conception in 2000—it weaves two conflicting genres (organized-crime, family drama) into a fascinating, warm hunk of movie-viewing that is evenly strong in either direction—and it’s one that will maintain its exceptional, infrequent caliber and gleaming sincerity for ages to come. Full Review »
  3. TonyB.
    9
    excellent movie i cant believe this movie wasnt bigger. i didnt even hear about it until i saw it on tnt. i also found it extremely hard to find in stores but fortunatly i did find a copy today so happy excellent movie a deffinatly worth a viewing. Full Review »