(#22) Don't Breathe (2016) - [8.25/10]

Three juveniles break into a house for a seemingly simple score. They thought wrong.

A troika of robbers barges into the house of a visually-impaired veteran after hearing that he has won prize money. Soon, they realise, much to their horror, that the old man is not that helpless.

How would I describe this film in one word?

Breathless.

Note Breathless. That's how you'd feel watching this film. I occasionally found myself subconsciously covering my mouth with the pair of my hands like in the poster because of the numerous unexpected clever twists I was presented with.

Review

This movie doesn't shy away from trying to surprise you and more often than not, the surprise comes in the form of a shock. It comes under the category of a home invasion thriller but it is far from mainstream and seeing the movie you'd know that the makers of the film tried very hard to make certain it wasn't run-of-the-mill. The house isn't shady, it isn't run-down or decomposed, the resident of the house (the antagonist) doesn't appear out of no where and no evil spirits. It doesn't want to show anything too outlandish, rather it tries to terrify you with how realistic the situation is and could be (you could imagine yourself in the protagonist's position). The antagonist isn't all that psycho either, they craft him as a real disturbed and broken human being who gets violently reactive if intimidated.

There are so many instances in this movie where you think that they're almost home free and have the upper hand and then this guy just beats them back into the reality to reassure them that they aren't leaving. It's a very engaging and an enjoyable unique take on the genre but if I was to find fault in it, I would say that the story didn't do justice to one of the main characters by the way it ended after all the chemistry was developed between the two. And because of that, I'm inclined to reduce the would-be score down by a quarter grade.

RATING: 8.25/10

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Director: Fede Alvarez Rated: R Runtime: 1 hr 28 min Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller Starring: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette