Why Don’t Breathe’s Twist Was The Movie’s Biggest Weakness

Due to its simple concept and superb execution, Don’t Breathe stands out as an exemplary horror thriller, except that its twist didn’t fit the rest of the movie. Directed by Fede Álvarez and co-produced by horror legend Sam Raimi, Don’t Breathe roots its horror in the desperation of enclosure. All the scares come from the simple premise of three friends getting trapped in a ruthless blind man’s house when they attempt to rob it.

The 2016 horror hit stars Jane Levy as Rocky, Dylan Minette as Alex, and Daniel Zovatto as Money, three amateur burglars who break into Norman Nordstom’s (Stephen Lang) house. Despite being blind, Norman, a hard-bitten Gulf War veteran, hunts them down with the ferocity of an apex predator. The unfortunate trio realizes they’re in for a rough night when Norman kills Money in cold blood. As if things cannot get any worse, Rocky and Alex head to the basement in search of refuge and find Cindy Roberts (Franciska Törőcsik), a woman Norman kidnapped and impregnated as revenge for allegedly killing his daughter in a car accident. When Nordstrom accidentally shoots her, he replaces her with Rocky. Before he has the chance to impregnate Rocky with a turkey baster, Don’t Breathe ends with Rocky incapacitating Norman and fleeing after he kills Alex.

The “forced impregnation” plot worked so well as a twist because it was shocking. Once the dust settles and the credits roll, however, it feels really out of place. It is by no means unrealistic, as choosing the house of the most vicious psychopath in town to rob is more likely than one would think. But in the wider context of the movie, such a horrific twist detracts from the original premise that made the movie so enthralling. A group of burglars facing off against a blind homeowner is a concept that could have stood on its own, yet the movie felt the need to throw an extreme conflict of revenge and obsession into the mix just to raise the stakes; this ended up being Don’t Breathe‘s biggest weakness.

On a second watch, it’s easier to see how Norman Nordstrom didn’t need a tragic backstory to work as a believable antagonist. Killing the burglars and hiding his brutality behind the mask of a vulnerable victim from beginning to end would have made his looming presence all the more suspenseful. This is an area where the 2008 real-life-inspired psychological slasher The Strangers succeeds. The true motivations behind the titular masked criminals are never truly disclosed. It may sound counterintuitive, but this lack of backstory is what makes a horror movie like Don’t Breathe and The Strangers so unnerving: acts of extreme violence sometimes just happen – no sympathy, no rationalization, just bloodshed.

None of this is to say that Don’t Breathe falls apart in the third act. The twist does heighten the stakes of both the ill-fated protagonists and the brutal killer who preys on them. Norman’s wish to protect his carefully-prepared revenge explains why he feels the need to defend his home with so much determination, and injects a good dose of tragedy into his backstory. Fede Álvarez’s masterful direction also helped the revelation feel more logical. Still, Don’t Breathe 2 could use a more subtle twist to keep the story tense and tight.

About The Author