Don't Breathe

Don't Breathe is a supremely crafted thriller built around a simple premise, and the notion that a seemingly ordinary house can turn into a maze of terror under the right circumstances.  This being a thriller, it's obviously no ordinary house.  There's a secret in the basement that I won't reveal, although sadly the trailers have hinted at.  There is also the house's sole inhabitant - A military veteran played by Stephen Lang, who was blinded during the Iraq War, and became a recluse after his only daughter was hit and killed by an inattentive driver.  One of the amazing things about this movie is how it can create sympathy for this character, only to turn it around, and make him something truly terrifying.

The film's director and co-writer is Fede Alvarez, who made the 2013 remake of Evil Dead.   I remember a lot of people enjoyed that movie, but I thought it reveled in over the top gore effects, while not focusing enough on the genuine suspense.  Here, Alvarez seems to have found the right mix.  Yes, Don't Breathe is violent, but it does not revel in it as his debut movie did.  He also is able to create such a constant sense of tension that this is one of the few thrillers I can remember actually being on the edge of my seat during certain moments.  It also manages to create sympathy for its three young leads, which is surprising, since the opening 15 minutes or so of the movie does not paint a very flattering portrait.  Early on, we see three young hoods breaking into a house, using security information that one of the guys obtained, because his father works for the security company that protects the house.  The hoods steal whatever valuables they can find, and sell it to a shady man who works out of the back of a van.  This left me a bit uneasy about how this movie was going to make me like these people.

Then we see the home life of the female member of the three hoods, Rocky (Jane Levy), and we slowly but surely soften up to her in particular.  She lives in a ramshackle home with her verbally abusive mother, while also looking after her young sister, whom she protects as much as she can, and dreams of taking her away from all of this.  We learn that she is stealing in order to help her sister and her escape to California, where they can make a life for themselves.  Even if that doesn't make it right, we at least sympathize.  The other two people who help her pull off the heists are her friend Alex (Dylan Minnette), who is the one with the security information and often seems conflicted about what they're doing, and Rocky's boyfriend "Money" (Daniel Zovatto), who is a possessive lunkhead, and obviously doesn't care about her the same way Alex does, making us wonder why she's in love with the dope in the first place.  The movie forgets to address this.

No matter.  Money believes he has found a big score that could lead to so much cash they wouldn't have to pull these heists off anymore.  The blind man I mentioned earlier is apparently sitting on a large settlement fortune that he keeps locked in a safe.  They break in, take the money, and split it up among them.  That's the plan, anyway.  What happens when they're inside the house I will have to be careful when it comes to describing.  Although, again, the trailers sadly have given away much of the shock value.  Fortunately, it does not diminish the effectiveness of those shocks.  Even if you are able to see certain things coming, the movie manages to create an atmosphere of constant close calls, narrow escapes, and tense thrills as the three would-be burglars find themselves being hunted down within a house of horrors.  It helps that this is a fairly smart movie, and that these characters are truly trapped.  It's not one of those films where the obvious escape is staring them in the face, and they refuse to take it.  Yes, there are a couple moments where the characters don't make the best decisions, but this could be argued as a side effect of panic and fearing for their lives.

But what really makes Don't Breathe work so well is how the film is shot.  Cinematographer Pedro Luque intentionally shoots the film just a little off center, making the rooms the characters are trapped in seem smaller and more claustrophobic than they should be.  In one memorable sequence, the blind man turns off all the power in the basement, forcing our heroes to find their way in the dark.  The sequence is shot in gray and badly-defined colors, making it seem like the blind man's eyes are almost glowing with white intensity as he hunts them down.  The effect it achieves is chilling, and is one of the best uses of darkness I've seen at the movies this year.  In my review of Green Room just a few months ago, I commented on how a lot of current directors don't seem to know how to use darkness well in current movies, making things look muddy instead of suspenseful.  Here is a wonderful counterargument on how it should be done, and I hope some filmmakers take notice.

And then there is the performance by Stephen Lang, which is the key behind the movie's effectiveness.  Even when we feel some sympathy for him early on, there is something decidedly off.  It helps that the movie gives him so little dialogue for a majority of the film, it's hard to put a finger on him at times.  Is he hunting these kids down out of hatred for breaking into his house, or is there more to him?  The way that Lang is forced to rely on his other senses (he listens for creaks on the floorboards, and sniffs the air) makes him an almost animal or even alien-like hunter.  He is blind, but he knows the layout of the home obviously, and can use it against his prey.  What makes the character terrifying are not the third act revelations, but rather just the way he carries himself, and hunts down the lead characters with such ease and lack of human compassion.  Again, it was a brilliant move by not having him talk for most of the film.  Sometimes it can be more chilling when you don't know the motives of the villain.

What's most surprising is how Don't Breathe did manage to take my breath away a couple times.  I found myself holding my breath along with the characters during some of the scenes where they are trying to hide from the villain, and not clue him in that he is nearby.  You know you're watching a truly great thriller when you're holding your breath right along with the characters up on the screen.  And this is one of the better suspense thrillers I've seen in a while.

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