Don’t Breathe

Fred Alvarez’s Don’t Breathe (terrible title) takes it’s first ten minutes to introduce us to the three main characters, and their way of life. They are three poor kids from Detroit who are struggling to get by, and to get out.  One of them has a parent in homeland security, so he can get keys to the houses they choose to rob; one is a lowlife who gets the information on which houses have the best stuff to take; the final one is the lowlife’s girlfriend, and other one’s crush.  She has a younger sister that she hopes to take with her to California to start a better life.

As these opening ten minutes draw to a close, the film then introduces us to their goal, which is to rob an old blind man of his $300,000 worth of settlement money.  He lives in an abandoned part of town, and has no known family other than a daughter that was tragically killed in a car accident (hence the settlement money).  Though he’s a Gulf War veteran, he seems to be an easy target.  He isn’t.  And so the three enter his home, and spend the rest of the film’s run-time in a terrifying chess match for their lives.

When I say the rest of the film’s run-time, I mean nearly down to the second.  Don’t Breathe is the equivalent of a roller coaster the plummets into a dark uncertainty that leaves a pit in your stomach, and your heart rapidly beating in your throat.  At times it reminded me of David Fincher’s Panic Room, for various reasons, but a more sick and twisted version.  And that’s part of it’s achievement, it can be as subtle as floorboards creaking on the soundtrack, or as nasty as…well…I’d rather not say.  There in lies my problem with this review, as I’d rather not say a thing to spoil what the film has in store, but if you’ve already seen the trailer, than you’ll know some of the film’s revelations.  However, even if you think the trailer spoiled too much, which it does, the experience of sitting in a darkened theater and being played like a fiddle by the filmmakers is one worth experiencing.

One of the best things about the film is how quickly it moves from one set piece to the next without you realizing it.  Once the chaos begins, it happens so sudden, and the danger to the characters is so high, that most films would give them a moment where they’d be safe.  There is no such moment here, as the stakes are either raised or made more disturbing until the lights come back on in the movie theater, and your released from Alvarez’s grasp.  I wasn’t a huge fan of Alvarez’s remake of The Evil Dead, but it was far better than most remakes, and showed a filmmaker with an elegance in his camera, and an understanding for horror.  That elegance is on full display here if you can find a second to appreciate it when you’re not slinking in your seat.  A early fantastic tracking shot that covers the geography of the house, gives you enough of a blueprint to comprehend the dark space the story tells it’s tale.  Don’t Breathe greatest accomplishment is the remarkable job on the film’s soundtrack, that knows that the meaning of silence is to better suit a sudden noise, and a better scare.  Also it’s nice that not one scare in the film is a fake one, they all matter.

But none of it would matter if the actors failed to make you care about the pieces on the game board.  Jane Leavy, reunited with Alvarez from The Evil Dead, is an excellent heroine.  Early on, I thought the film’s opening minutes didn’t give her enough time to connect with me, but once she’s in danger, she sells it with a genuinely horrified gaze. Dylan Minnette (Goosebumps, Prisoners), as the better of the other two intruders, is given something substantial to do for the first time in his career, and he proves that he’s ready for more.  Daniel Zovatto, as the douchey boyfriend, is a little too on the nose, but he is pretty convincing.  The film’s villain is played by Steven Lang (Avatar), and he’s able to evoke sympathy early on, that convincingly changes into a force that seems unstoppable, despite his blindness.

The film has a few minor shortcomings, that mostly take place in it’s opening set-up, but I also felt that the ending puttered out a little.  What should of been it’s climax, gave way to two lesser ones (though one of them suggests that we’ll never get a Cujo remake that will top it’s homage here), causing the film to feel like it was just running out of steam as it crossed the finish line.  But it’s not an egregious mistake, and it doesn’t take away from what comes before.

Don’t Breathe may be the title of the movie, but once the movie begins, you may have difficulty remembering to do so.

Grade A-