Review of Don't Breathe (2016) by Oakleez — 25 Aug 2016

I went to this on opening night for 3 reasons: The trailer looked great, it has a good director (Fede Alvarez who did the Evil Dead 2013 reboot), and it's actually a horror movie rated R which is rare these days. It was unique enough at times for me to come out of it without feeling ripped off... but it definitely had some flaws.

Pros:

Great direction and cinematography. A few scenes literally had me holding my breath.

Some plot twists are genuine surprises and at times it is very suspenseful.

It's a large-release horror movie that is rated R. It's a dying breed.

Cons:

The blatant attempt to portray atheists as nihilistic scum is ridiculous. I won't spoil anything, but this is the weakest attempt to paint atheists as terrible people in cinematic history. It's laughable and completely out of place in the context of the movie. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that this movie was partially funded by extremist Christians. It's that bad. Thankfully, it was just one scene... but it could have been easily cut and it would not have affected the plot.

Many of the plot "twists" are predictable due to obvious foreshadowing. Zooming in on items that don't currently matter is just telling the audience you think they're stupid. It's 2016... we don't need adult (rated R) horror movies holding our hands. They could have very easily omitted a few angles/scenes and the audience would have felt less patronized.