Nearly every summer, a sleeper emerges that you've never heard of that seemingly comes out of nowhere and captures audience's attention - usually a horror thriller. As summer gasped out its swan song, this year that distinction went to Don't Breathe.
You probably know the premise - a trio of young thieves plan a home invasion where the victim is blind. An easy score. Except the man in the dark is a Gulf War veteran, for whom blindness has become a superpower. He knows every inch of his hermit-imposed environment, his ears attuned to even the slightest noise. Played by the great Stephen Lang (Avatar), his blind man is a powerful, dangerous presence - a coiled spring. His quiet patience reminds you of Charles Bronson.
Directed by Fede Alvarez, (Evil Dead), Don't Breathe is a really hard movie to talk about without veering off the highway into spoiler territory, which I don't want to do. It's an extremely visceral and effective film, and the premise is stupendous. That first half of the movie is pure gasp-inducing adrenaline. The blind man's house is deep in the abandoned wasteland of derelict Detroit neighborhoods, and the absence of neighbors or passersby creates a foreboding, apocalyptic mood.
The trio of thieves are solid, especially Jane Levy. Dylan Minnette is a little too earnest, his character feeling more like he belongs in a John Hughes movie. But the movie calls for extremely personal, physical work from these two, as well as Daniel Zovatto, the most unrepentant of the three. The house is practically a character unto itself, feeling decrepit and real. Alvarez has a keen sense for what rattles an audience, and this is a great picture to see in the theater. It's claustrophobic and in your face.
The film owes a real debt to Panic Room, as well as the 1967 Audrey Hepburn thriller, Wait Until Dark, directed by the great Terence Young (if you've never seen it, find it). I'll just say that Alvarez makes the audience's sympathies a moving target. When the tables turn, as much as you want the blind man to triumph over his invaders, they're not stock bad guys, especially Levy. In the second half, you'll find there's more than one kitchen sink in play, and I found my allegiances in a fair amount of flux. Maybe I had some issues, but let's keep it spoiler-free.
When they bring the check, you've really got to hand it to Alvarez for delivering a super taut, economical premise with pretty tight lug nuts. Made for about $10 million, its dog-days box office is at $67 million so far. That's why you gotta love a good thriller.
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