Don't Breathe movie review & film summary (2016) | Roger Ebert (2024)

At its best, Fede Alvarez’s “Don’t Breathe” is a tight,confined thriller—the kind of morality play that toys with audience loyaltyand works to convey its protagonists' predicament by making us feel claustrophobic right alongside them. For long passages, the movie playsout in real time, and Alvarez and his team have a remarkable sense of filmgeography, established in a beautiful unbroken shot that defines the space forthis largely one-setting exercise in terror. Alvarez was also wise to reunitewith “Evil Dead” star Jane Levy, an actress who can do a lot with very littlein terms of character development and is remarkably fearless physically, andeven wiser to cast Stephen Lang, a fantastic character actor for decades whohas been given one of his most memorable roles here. Like a lot of films ofthis breed, “Don’t Breathe” gets a little less interesting as it proceeds to itsinevitable conclusion, replacing tension with shock value, but it works so wellup to that point that your heart will likely be beating too fast to care.

Rocky (Levy), her boyfriend Money (Daniel Zovatto) andwishes-he-was-boyfriend Alex (Dylan Minnette) rob houses in the wealthy suburbsof Detroit. Alex’s dad manages a security company and therefore has access tokeys that allow for a lot less “breaking” in breaking & entering. Rocky hasa horrible mother and a baby sister that she’ll do anything to get out of theirdysfunctional and dangerous home. Tired of quickie jobs that net a few nicewatches and some jewelry, Money stumbles on a possible crime that would trulychange their lives. Deep in the desolate, rundown heart of Detroit—on one ofmany blocks with no neighbors and few active utilities—lives a blind man (Lang). A few years earlier, his daughterwas killed in a car accident and he received a massive cash settlement thatMoney believes is in a safe in the house. Rocky, Money and Alex will just go in and takeit. He’s a blind veteran who lives alone. How hard could it be?

The men of “Don’t Breathe” are given almost no definingcharacter traits whatsoever, and that’s to the film’s detriment. You can feelAlvarez rushing to get to the centerpiece when he could have taken a beat ortwo to give us a reason to care about Money and Alex beyond the former being atough guy and the latter being the nice one. Rocky/Levy fares a little better,as the actress imbues a few very short scenes with a palpable dose of urgency.She doesn’t rob for profit or need; she is stealing money that’s just sittingin a safe to save her life and that of her sister. She’ll get the cash, they’llall flee Detroit to California, and everyone will live happily ever after. Thecomplex morality of Rocky’s dilemma is one of the most interesting narrativeelements of “Don’t Breathe.” In theory, we shouldn’t be rooting for a younglady to steal money from a blind man, but we do.

And that moral complexity takes a sharp turn when things gowrong in the main event of “Don’t Breathe.” Without spoiling nearly as much asthe previews do, let’s just say that these three low-level criminals vastlyunderestimate both the current situation in their target’s home and itsresident’s certain set of skills. The MVP of this midsection is arguably cinematographerPedro Luque, who works with Alvarez to very clearly define the blueprint of thehouse and where our characters are within it. Unlike a lot of modern horror,which uses quick cuts and shaky camerawork to induce fear, Alvarez and Luqueunderstand that we’ll relate to the predicament of “Don’t Breathe” the moreclearly we can define what’s going on. As Lang andLevy play a game of cat and mouse through this maze, it’s best to know wherethe walls are. And, of course, it’s more effective when Alvarez and companypull those walls away in a basem*nt that feels like a neverending series ofshelves, replicating the protagonist’s confusion and fear.

There’s a significant twist in “Don’t Breathe” (again, don’twatch the previews) that produces shock value (and allows for even moredisturbing material later on) but it almost feels like a misstep in that itpushes Lang’s character towards a definitive villain role. I like the idea ofa battle of wills—in a home within an abandoned neighborhood—between charactersthat occupy grayer areas in terms of morality. There are also a few plot turns in the final act that require more suspension of disbelief.

At the heart of the film, as young people who made avery bad decision try to survive longenough to get out of a house that has turned into a fortress, “Don’t Breathe”is tense and even relatable. There are millions of young people, especially inDetroit, trying to escape their bad decisions. “Don’t Breathe” becomes a battleof wills between two people who have done very bad things but justified theiractions to themselves. The talented Levy and Lang allow us to understand their characters' polarizing choices, and place usright there in the house—with the petty criminal and the man with the darksecret, holding our breath.