Review of Don't Breathe (2016) by Chris O — 06 Nov 2016

"Don't Breathe" is an exciting horror thriller that'll grab you by the throat and never let go.

A trio of thieves break into a house, with the master plan to rob a blind man blind. However, underestimating circumstances, they soon realize what they've gotten themselves into, with unimaginable consequences.

This was one of my most anticipated horror movies of the year, with such a unique premise yet simple narrative. The horror genre has been a weak one historically, but has seen some major leaps in the past couple years.

This film's greatest strength was its screenplay. It was such a simple premise, yet well executed story that it had me glued to the screen. My heart was pounding throughout and my jaw dropped on a couple of occasions. This movie knows exactly what it is and it doesn't waste time on useless aspects. The intro was short and to the point, while the rest of the film was this nail biting thriller. The dialogue (albeit little) was well written and the sequence of events were well done. The twist in this movie was sort of illogical in a sense, but it still made for a disturbing and absolutely scary chain of events. Everything about the screenplay was so well done, even though there were some glaring plot holes at times.

The performances in this movie were top notch. Stephen Lang was easily the best part of this movie and his performance deserves a lot of recognition. I would honestly love to hear his name called out for some award of some kind because he was one of the best villains I've seen all year, and the most psychologically damaged one at that. Jane Levy and Dylan Minnette were both great in their lead roles and gave a lot to the film, and the cast overall did a wonderful job.

The sound and camerawork were all utilized perfectly. In a film that's going to rely heavily on that eery drag of a silent moment, or a time where the protagonist is hiding right under the nose of a antagonist, a lot of the film has to be built on sounds and angles. Everything was done so well and this is a high quality production. It takes a lot of skill to write a movie with little dialogue, and it's a feat that requires good writing and creative alternatives.

Like I said earlier, there are some glaring plot holes in this movie. Are they really that comprising? Well yes and no. In the moment they can really hurt, and when you think about the film afterwards, it raises some questions in your head, and it's actually the reason why I'm not giving this movie a 4.5 stars. Look, no movie will be perfect. Every movie comes with its set of flaws, it's inevitable. But there are some that can affect the entire scope of the film, and although the finale was intense, it raised some questions that made me question the film a little.

In the end, I still felt that "Don't Breathe" was one of the best horror films of the year. It has such an interesting and unique premise, and it was executed really well. It's certainly a film that I'd love to own one day and I highly recommend this to horror fans everywhere.