Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- paranoid
- claustrophobic
- disturbing
- late night horror
- technology paranoia double feature
What critics said
Critics found the acting and direction effective within a mildly diverting cyber-horror premise, but considered the climax and final scene underdeveloped and implausible.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The online gaming experience weaponizes the contestants' social identities and turns digital cruelty into the film's central threat.
The contestants surrender their phones and become trapped aboard a private jet while the game unfolds around them.
The supposedly entertaining in-flight gaming experience becomes the controlling structure of the characters' ordeal.
The private jet and online game create a visually restricted environment where screens and surveillance intensify the sense of entrapment.
Films like Panic Button, and why
Unfriended
shared cyber-horror premise, online menace, and escalating survival thriller tension
Cam
shared social-media paranoia, technological entrapment, and horror built around digital cruelty
Would You Rather
shared contained horror structure, ordinary people trapped by a hostile game, and escalating psychological distress
Movie Details
- Director
- Chris Crow
- Release Date
- 2011-08-27
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Rating
- 5.1 / 10 (169)
Cast
- Scarlett Alice Johnson
- Jack Gordon
- Michael Jibson
- Elen Rhys
- Joshua Richards
- Vern Raye
- Meggie McCarthy
- Sarah Parks
- Christopher Cale
- Ri Richards
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video
- Buy
- Amazon Video
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Panic Button about?
- A seemingly luxurious flight becomes a digitally controlled survival game when four competition winners surrender their phones to an unseen online threat.
- What is Panic Button like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Panic Button as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Panic Button violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Panic Button as moderate.
- What did critics think of Panic Button?
- Critics found the acting and direction effective within a mildly diverting cyber-horror premise, but considered the climax and final scene underdeveloped and implausible.
- Which films are like Panic Button?
- Films with a similar feel include Unfriended, Cam, and Would You Rather.
- How long is Panic Button?
- Panic Button runs 96 minutes.
- Where can I watch Panic Button?
- In United States, Panic Button is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video.
