Don’t Breathe is a good film. It’s a fresh take on old methods in the horror genre and proves that director Fede Alvarez wasn’t a one-trick pony with Evil Dead. Definitely check it out.
It’s not often that horror movies make me uncomfortable. This is certainly an exception.
Official Synopsis
Three young thieves (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto) fight for their lives after breaking into the home of a blind man (Stephen Lang) who has a dark side.
Simplicity is the driving force behind Don’t Breathe, as it doesn’t take much in terms of storytelling to set things in motion. You have a simple premise of three robbers going to pick up an easy pay-day via a blind man, but end up running into a force that is far stronger than they expected, as well as far more wicked. Director Fede Alvarez is known for his horror thanks in part to his involvement with Evil Dead, so his ability to put main characters into an almost impossible situation filled with evil, horror and brutality was a perfect visionary fit for this type of story.
Without further delay, let’s get right to this crazy ride.
The first act of the film sets everyone up perfectly, starting with the trio of robbers showing their stuff when it comes to hitting a mark. We get a dose of Money (Daniel Zovatto), who is the brute in the group, senseless and kick-them-in-the-teeth-first type of character. You get the smart nerd Alex (Dylan Minnette), who keeps the group on track with time and estimates out risk/reward on their hits. Then you get Rocky (Jane Levy), the balance of brute and brains, as well as a struggling mother figure trying to get her life straight and far away from crime. Mixed together, the trio equals out to a strong group that keeps itself safe and well-stocked with stolen goods and cash.
After a brief introduction, one that sets all the players up in the film, and a robbery hit, the group gets a gentle reminder, mainly through Rocky’s abusive and irresponsible family, that life needs changing quickly or their terrible situations are just going to spiral into criminal oblivion. This sets up the next hit for the group, a final hit to allow them to escape the confines of a broken down Detroit, which is stealing $300k from a blind man (Stephen Lang), and an ex-vet, who lost his daughter to a tragic accident. The group believes the theft to be an easy process…until they are trapped in the man’s house by the blind man, who intends on killing each and every one of them.
The first act is quick, precise in its intentions and formulaic in character design. None of that is bad, it’s just predictable, but the overwhelming setup for the second act makes you forget that all of this is typical of a horror structure. The main character gets the most detail, the rest are expendable. The main antagonist gets details that lead up to a big reveal. All of which happens in the first act, and again is predictable. How they get to it all, the crux of the story, is what makes this unique. Having a blind man willingly trap robbers in his house, who are armed, is a unique situation to the horror genre. It’s vicious, daring and new, especially the way things go down. And boy, do they go down hard in the second act.
The second act spends a great amount of time, through various scenarios, explaining who this blind man is and where his motivation to be so cruel comes from. In addition, violence is prominent in act two as a driving point for the story. His way to pick everyone off one-by-one reveals a bit about his state of mind. The way he does it is amazingly simple, especially when he kills the lights in the house (yikes, that is creepy). The brutality he shows towards Alex and Money is tough to watch, especially Alex. The blind man is methodical, unforgiving and cruel. Strangely enough, the story reminds us that these robbers broke into his house, so technically he has the right to do what he feels fit to them. That said, the blind man is caught between being a hero and being a villain because of his actions towards the group. It’s an odd position to put the audience in when trying to determine how they should feel about him. Anyway, act two ends with Rocky’s discovery of the blind man’s nasty secret, as well as her own capture.
The second act is cruel. It’s brutal. It is in an ‘anything goes’ state of mind from beginning to end. There is nothing predictable about the situation and the story takes on the persona of the audience watching it, as it simply does not suspect where the next scene is going, which makes the entire second act an appropriately uncomfortable experience. To add to this, Stephen Lang really ratchets up his intensity and anger, which makes the urgency seem thick and overwhelming at times. You want this man dead, but at the same time you just want the robbers to leave. It’s beautifully baffling. The second act is nothing short of stunningly directed and drawn up, as well as it sets up the last act quite nicely.
In true Digitalchumps fashion, there is no reveal, especially for a film like this, on what happens as the third act unfolds. I will say that I was a bit disappointed by methods to end this movie and disappointed by what the blind man wants to do with Rocky (it’s gross and it doesn’t fit the bill). That said, it does wrap things up properly and leaves the door open to more possibilities for a sequel, though I hope they stay away from it.
Overall, Don’t Breathe is a good film. It’s a fresh take on old methods in the horror genre and proves that director Fede Alvarez wasn’t a one-trick pony with Evil Dead. Definitely check it out.
On the special features side of the tracks here’s what you’re getting:
– Commentary from director, writer and Stephen Lang
– 8 Deleted scenes
– No Escape
– Creating the Creepy House
– Meet the Cast
– Main in the Dark
– The Sounds of Horror
The above features are fantastic with this release. They add some depth to the production and provide some wonderful insight on intentions. They add value to the overall package, which is always a positive when it comes to feature inclusion. Definitely worth a look.
