Don’t Breathe (2016)

Starring: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette

Director: Fede Alvarez

Driven by poverty, three teens with no hope for the future break into peoples houses and steal to survive. But when things get too hot, they decide on one last job before leaving town: robbing a blind man who lives in a deserted neighborhood. A loner military vet, with a tragic past. But have they bitten off more than they can chew?

Well, yes they have, and that’s the best part. Lang plays the man in question, a terrifying figure whose heightened sense of hearing and skills with weaponry mean that he’s a force to be reckoned with.

It’s an interesting film, because whilst I do sympathise with the poverty and desperation of the main characters, they are pretty awful, breaking into houses and even peeing on the carpets. It’s not great behaviour. I mean, they deserve their comeuppance if they’re the types to steal from blind man, a man who did his time in the military, and who lost his beloved daughter under tragic circumstances. The film manages to make us sympathise with them over the course of the film, but it does feel a little shoe horned.

That said, it doesn’t really detract from the film, which is really intense, twisty and thrilling. This is one of the better horrors of 2016, because of the pacing, the setting and the excellent performances, though it’s just a thread away from being too over the top.

See It If: One of the better horror/thrillers of the year, it’s good fun with some great twists.