Don’t Breathe, directed by Fede Alvarez, is a horror-thriller about three thieves (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto) who break into the house a blind man (Stephen Lang) and after they break in to his house, they realize he isn’t as defenseless as he seems.
I’m not the biggest horror film fan to be completely honest. I have become more interested in the horror genre as a whole though, whether it is in comics, shows, and film, so I was actually really looking forward to this film. I thought that it would be a decent home invasion film with some good scares and there is so much more to this film than that. In fact, this is not only a spectacular horror film, but a spectacular film and is one of the best films of the year.
This film could not have been good as it was without the director, Fede Alvarez. This is his second film after the remake of Evil Dead, which I haven’t seen admittedly, but I really want to now after seeing how amazing and artistic of a director that he is. He is able to create absolutely beautiful shots that tell a story and create exposition so well that there was no heavy handed dialogue to give characters backstory. He also paces the film in a great fashion and it constantly goes at a breakneck speed while also providing everything that the audiences needs in order to understand the story.
The performances in this film are also top-notch from the entire cast, albeit a really small cast. Jane Levy and Dylan Minnette both give fantastic performances and their performances help convey the intensity of the situation simply based on their facial expressions. They didn’t have much dialogue, even though they had more than Stephen Lang’s character, but the dialogue that they had was done really well. Stephen Lang was the standout though. He was incredibly terrifying even though he was a blind man. Lang was able to convey how powerful his character was, especially in his house, and there was nothing supernatural about him, he was just a blind man who knows how to fight and his house. He also doesn’t have much dialogue, but he doesn’t need it because he is able to act with his body and he is incredible at it.
Really the only thing that I have an issue with is part of the third act (no spoilers). Not that it was bad film-making, I just didn’t like it and I didn’t think that it worked. Other than that though, there was nothing I really had an issue with. However, upon seeing this another time, the ending isn’t quite as bad as I thought that it was on my first viewing. It is still very unnerving though and not for the faint of heart.
Overall, Don’t Breathe is a spectacular horror film that transcends the genre and is a great film overall.
Don’t Breathe is available to stream on Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play.
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