‘DON’T BREATHE’ Review

Three years ago, Fede Alvarez was tasked to unleash a remake/reboot/reimagining of the beloved horror classic, The Evil Dead. Mind you that this was coming out after horror fans have already had a handful of forgettable remakes of some horror classics from the 80’s. What Alvarez and his leading actress, Jane Levy, delivered was a solid, unrelenting and character-unforgiving film that had enough viciousness to ultimately be a pretty amazing horror film. It made a pretty damn good impact on me so I was excited to see what Alvarez would do next. Earlier this year, his new film – which was just titled as Untitled Fede Alvarez Film – played at SXSW in Austin and from the initial sound of it, he didn’t lose his bite. The official title was Don’t Breathe, which was revealed at SXSW as it was shown on the screen.

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Don’t Breathe teams Alvarez with Levy again along with Dylan Minnette (from last year’s Goosebumps) and Daniel Zovatto (from It Follows) as a group of teens who have resorted to calculated minor burglaries to get ahead and out of an already anaemic and hopeless Detroit. Essentially, the group figures out how they can pull off “one last job” that will get them out of the city and off to California (which probably wouldn’t be much better due to the cost of living) to greener pastures. Unfortunately, this “last job” isn’t as easy as they thought it would be given the fact that the man they are robbing is a war veteran who not only has nothing to lose but has heightened hearing due to his blindness.

Alvarez presents himself with quite a bit of a challenge right off the bat with his main characters. The first scene is all three of them committing a crime and per cinematic history, these are the bad guys. As we progress, the motives of these characters start unveiling and we become the most empathic with Levy’s character, Rocky. When the home invasion starts, that is when Alvarez flexes his muscles and proves that he is not fucking around. With a one-shot introduction of the veteran’s house with expository setups that not only introduce the audience to what horrors may come to the characters but also prove that Alvarez is a director that knows who his audience is by making the setups recall a master orchestrator of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. However, Alvarez is also a very visual director (which is why he was such a perfect fit for Evil Dead) and even peppers in some unique camera movements that echo David Fincher’s placement of where a camera should never go. Alvarez contains total control over any audience watching this film and that is refreshing to see.

…Alvarez is a director that knows who his audience is by making the setups recall a master orchestrator of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.

Other than the director being a highlight of the film, Jane Levy proves that she is an actress that can easily glide on each end of the dynamic range that her character calls for in the film. Stephen Lang, as the blind veteran, also brings a serious intensity to the film. Even though his character should, on paper, be the hero as you come to find, the film isn’t as predictable as you think it is when you first sat down in your seat.

That’s not to say there aren’t issues with the film. The last third of the film feels a bit sloppy and might get too entangled with all the twists that it presents. However, it still has enough surprises and goes into a territory that feels like a no-holds-barred exploitation film. That in itself is enough for me and many genre fans to forget any missteps the film may make.

Don’t Breathe is a crowd pleaser and is best experienced in a packed theater. I recommend seeing it opening weekend and not waiting for home video release.