Don’t Breathe did not hit my radar until word of mouth brought it to my attention as the summer’s must see thriller/horror movie so I decided to see it in the theaters. I think that the best way to see Don’t Breathe is in the dark with no pausing, no bathroom breaks, no rewinding, no fast forwarding and no multitasking, i.e. turn off all electronic devices.
Don’t Breathe is about three teenagers who have successfully broken and entered into homes so they can escape Detroit and run away to California. Rocky wants to get her sister, Diddy, out of an abusive home before she becomes too damaged. Her boyfriend, Money, just likes money. Alex, the son of a home security specialist, likes Rocky. They decide to pull one last heist, a sure thing: rob a blind man who lives alone in a home in an abandoned neighborhood with a lot of cash. Who do they get the tip from? They ignore one tiny detail-the blind man is a vet! Stephen Lang of Avatar villain fame plays the vet. Clearly these kids do not hear or read the news about old guys regularly kicking the ass of some unsuspecting burglar.
Don’t Breathe works because it never lets up on the tension. Will they get the money and get out before the blind, buff vet gets them? On one hand, these are young stupid kids who shouldn’t die for robbing a home. On the other hand, they are robbing a blind vet who seems to have lost so much more than his sight. Don’t Breathe is not Wait Until Dark, but it taps into a similar psychological dynamic produced in that film, but divides that sympathy into two separate characters. Sympathies constantly shift until they land in a conventional horror movie trope way that is earned and not necessarily taken for granted as a given by the end. It is no accident that the first victim is the one that audiences are most conditioned by media images not to like as much as the other two with so much potential.
Don’t Breathe, like most horror movies, grapples with the question of evil and how it can exist if there is a God. The blind man’s experiences have empowered him to believe that he can shape the world as he sees fit. There is no God or morality so you can do anything to anyone and face no consequences if you plan things effectively. Nature can bend to your will-from the creation of life to dominion over all living creatures. Without God, there is no justice, just vengeance. The blind man is not an indifferent atheist. He is angry at God’s lack of intervention so provokes him in a similar fashion as Prisoners.
Rocky’s experiences are similarly devoid of hope or opportunity. She lives in a broken world, but her belief that everything will be all right was a brief glimpse of luck in nature as a child. Rocky’s belief is rooted in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Rocky may never enter a church or adhere to the commandments, but like the thief on the cross next to Jesus, she believes and has faith.
Don’t Breathe is not a struggle between good and evil. Don’t Breathe is a struggle against succumbing to the darkness and despair of the world.
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Unfortunately home viewers will miss the excellent theater viewers’ commentary when watching Don’t Breathe. The best remark was “At least he is out of the house,” when Alex fell out of a window. No one saw the twist coming, and yes, you are a rapist. Anyone who saw 10 Cloverfield Lane will know that no one keeps girls in their basement without being sick perverts. And how exactly were you going to raise this baby? How did the cops not notice the basement and all the weird chains? Someone is looking the other way, and in many ways, that aspect of Don’t Breathe was the most terrifying part. They just don’t want to deal with the paperwork. Rocky is the ultimate final girl, but will she and her sister have to have a showdown in a sequel. I have a theory: the kidnapped girl’s parents provided the tip to the underworld because the police were not really looking into her disappearance because she was a flawed victim, and they felt bad for the blind man.
After doing a little lurking on the imdb boards, I discovered that Don’t Breathe may have been inspired by the Byron David Smith killings, which I never heard of before. Basically a blind man repeatedly shot and killed two intruders, an all American (white) teenage boy and girl, recorded the whole thing and did not call the police until after Thanksgiving weekend. He was later convicted.