I tend to forget that you can watch things on Amazon Prime, but with the release of
PANIC and it's multiple advertisements I was pleasantly reminded.
Based on the the 2014 young adult novel PANIC by Lauren Oliver, this series covers a small town in Texas' yearly tradition, in which graduating seniors compete in a dangerous game and face their fears in order to win money to improve their lives.
From looking at other reviews, PANIC has gained a mixed receival, however I genuinely really enjoyed it and found it extremely binge able and tense at points.
The series is an amalgamation of different genres and themes, including romance, crime, loyalty, poverty, privilege, and gave me similar vibes to
The Society (2019) and
Escape Room (2019) - but with lower stakes. A lot of the challenges felt a little lacklustre and seemed liked recreational behaviours that some individuals would do without money even being up for grabs.
I never read the book, however I'm thinking that the challenges were probably more severe, along with the characters hardships which caused them to take part in the game. At the end of the day, though, I don't think
PANIC was created with the intent to be anything more than a bit of fun and escapism, so going into it with that in mind is the best way to enjoy it.
An aspect which I particularly enjoyed was the character relationships and dynamics between the competitors, specifically between those competing because they truly needed the money for a better life, and the already privileged competing for the equivalent of some extra pocket money. I felt that there were a large handful of characters who actually got some good character development throughout, and the show did a good job of utilising these different character developments to throw in red herrings as to who is actually behind the game.
If you're looking for a tense, binge able show that has you second guessing the whole way through, and are potentially interested in watching Jack Nicholson's kinda hot son be a stereotypical bad boy with a soft side for ten episodes (I like a man with a curly mullet, okay?) then I would definitely give
PANIC a shot.
~Paige Nicole
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