Don't Breathe Review
Directed by Fede Alvarez
Written by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues
“There is nothing a man cannot do once he accepts the fact that there is no god”
The only other full length movie under Fede Alvarez’s belt is the remake of Evil Dead, a movie I’m a huge fan of for its effects and just how over the top and disgusting it manages to be without just being unmoral. From the trailers, Don’t Breathe doesn’t look like the gut-wrenching cringe-fest that Evil Dead was but it looks like it aims to prove how effective Fede Alvarez’s directing can be when dealing with high tension and looming dread. That’s what I expected anyway, Don’t Breathe is surprisingly sickening and if you’re a fan of the ewww that was Evil Dead, then you’ll find your “Fill” here. Disgusting pun intended. Let’s go into detail.
Don’t Breathe is about three teenagers who rob houses for different reasons, Rocky (Jane Levy) wants to get away from her trailer trash life for instance. The opportunity arises to take a score so big that the three thieves will be set up for the foreseeable future and eventually they all agree to take the risk. They had no idea how big the risk really was when they get caught up in a terrifying game of cat and mouse with the owner of the property. Who just so happens to be a blind, trigger happy war veteran. Twists, turns and death ensue. The core of the story is pretty simple and it gets a little deeper as the movie goes on but that mixed with this films reasonably short run time makes for a tight little thriller. This film is very well presented. There are a couple parts that just didn’t make sense to me but telling would mean spoilers so I’ll save that for now. I’ll just say that these issues were not enough to ruin my experience but I do wonder how there could be so many little holes in such a small, contained story.
Jane Levy returns with Alvarez for Don’t Breathe as Rocky and once again she’s pretty great. Not quite as amazing as Mia from Evil Dead but by this point she has mastered the scared shitless face. Dylan Minnette as Alex is also very good, total convincing. He’s someone who’s clearly not a big risk taker but will rise to the occasion for a friend in need. He’s a pretty great guy…apart from the whole robbing thing. Daniel Zovatto gives a decent performance as ‘Money’. He’s a bit of a prick, isn’t very respectable and is clearly the risk taker and these guys all come across as realistic representations of these kind of people. I can’t not talk about Stephen Lang as “The Blind Man” though. Stephen Lang is not an actor that I’ve ever been a big fan of, nothing against him, I’ve just never really got into his characters. I’m certainly a fan of his now, he is fantastic in Don’t Breathe and completely steals the spotlight. He’s 100% convincing as a frantic blind man and can really be scary. This blind old man is so much more frightening than any masked killer I’ve seen on the big screen and that’s a great achievement for Fede Alvarez and Stephen Lang. There’s only really 4 big characters. Where slasher movies will normally kill off anywhere from 5 to 10 people throughout its runtime, Don’t Breathe sticks you with three kids with all the focus on them and the maniac. This gets you a lot more invested in potential deaths, it’s a serious issue if anyone of these people die. They aren’t just all there to be picked off like any cast list for a Friday the 13th movie. My only issue with the cast is Rocky’s little sister, I know she’s only a child but she was very clearly just reading her lines and she didn’t add any believability to the story.
Back to the question of: Can Alvarez direct tense situations and impending doom well? The short answer is yes. Don’t Breathe is very tense and actually quite scary. The threat feels very real (mainly because of the actors) and the fight scenes are so gruelling and harsh. There’s even a successful stab at claustrophobia, which is short but has numerous high moments. And as a bonus, this film is wonderfully shot, I really enjoyed the style of Don’t Breathe and its direction.
Because of Don’t Breathe, Fede Alvarez couldn’t be any more on my radar. This is his second movie and it already shows how much potential he has. If you’ve seen the trailers for Don’t Breathe, the first act of the movie probably won’t shock you much but what remains is a relentless, bloodied knuckled, gut-wrenching experience.
Rating: *****
Better than > Green Room Worse than > 10 Cloverfield Lane
Main pros
-Focused
-Intense
-Surprising
-Unyielding
-Brutal
-Good cast
-Stephen Lang in particular
Mild cons
-Couple questionable scenes
-That one kid
If you’ve read this, you’ve probably seen the trailers but if you haven’t, I recommend you go in blind and take a paper bag to hyperventilate or to puke in…or both. If you want to talk spoilers, scroll down for more!
Spoiler section!
They try to make it look so hard to escape but at one point the fucking dog knocks the kid out of the window so it can’t be that hard to get out. Speaking of the kid, as if he died! He did his best, bless him. Also, speaking of the dog, how did he get into the house? I probably missed something but I’m pretty sure he was locked out. To be fair, he’s a world class weightlifter so he probably just chest bumped a door down, the fucking savage.
