# Panic (2021)

> Graduating seniors in a forgotten Texas town risk their lives in a deadly summer challenge game for a chance at life-changing money.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/101738

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama, thriller, action, adventure
- Created by: Lauren Oliver
- Network: Prime Video
- Cast: Olivia Scott Welch, Mike Faist, Jessica Sula, Camron Jones, Leslie Ann Leal, Enrique Murciano, Ray Nicholson, David Thompson
- TMDB rating: 6.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10344410/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: tense, propulsive, grim, desperate

## What critics say

Audiences found the premise of a deadly graduation game in a dying Texas town gripping, though the reception is mixed overall.

## Synopsis

Panic (2021) is an American teen survival thriller series created by Lauren Oliver for Prime Video. Set in the forgotten town of Carp, Texas, the story follows graduating seniors who see the annual summer contest as their only way out. Heather Nill (Olivia Scott Welch) and Dodge Mason (Mike Faist) are among the young players who sign up for a series of perilous challenges, each one offering life-changing money to whoever survives. Their rivalries, loyalties and fears are shaped by the dusty streets and a local community that treats the danger as a rite of passage. Sheriff Cortez (Enrique Murciano) represents the adult world looking on uneasily as the stakes climb. The series is a single ten-episode season, with each episode built around a new challenge that tightens the pressure on the players. The tone is tense and propulsive, with a grim undercurrent of desperation and a sense that the game's danger is always close. Fans of The Hunger Games and Battle Royale will find familiar territory in its mix of teen competition and social despair. The show was canceled after its first season, leaving its central arc unfinished and its characters' futures open.

## Shows like Panic

- [Dare Me (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/80435)
- [Chosen (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/24662)
- [Cruel Summer (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/82584)
- [Motorheads (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/159885)
- [3% (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/60093)
- [Ransom Canyon (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/157406)
- [Light as a Feather (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/69969)
- [Outlast: The Jungle (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1104951)
- [Wolf Pack (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/111382)
- [Most Dangerous Game (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/76949)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt
