Don’t Breathe 2 (2021) Screen Gems/Horror-Thriller RT: 98 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence, gruesome images, language) Director: Rodo Sayagues Screenplay: Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues Music: Roque Banos Cinematography: Pedro Luque Release date: August 13, 2021 (US) Cast: Stephen Lang, Brendan Sexton III, Madelyn Grace, Adam Young, Bobby Schoefield, Rocci Williams, Christian Zagia, Steffan Rhodri, Stephanie Arcila, Diaana Babnicova. Box Office: $32.7M (US)/$53.8M (World)
Rating: ***
WARNING: This review may contain spoilers about the first movie. If you haven’t seen it and plan to watch it someday, PLEASE READ NO FURTHER. If you do, you do so at your own risk.
What I admired most about the first Don’t Breathe is how it played with the audience’s perception of the protagonist, a blind Gulf War vet played by Stephen Lang (Band of the Hand). Is he a hero or a villain? Initially, he’s the former in defending his home against the three young thieves who break in to rob him. Over the course of the movie, a shocking revelation about the blind guy makes him the latter. Just like that, we switch sides and root for the last thief standing to get away with the loot and her life. I thought it was pretty clever myself.
We go into the sequel Don’t Breathe 2 with the knowledge of the Blind Man’s depraved acts from the previous movie. We also know that his “daughter” Phoenix (Grace in her first feature film) can’t be his daughter. It takes place eight years after the first movie and she’s 11YO. There are a few feasible explanations of this, but knowing what we now know about the man, we’re sure she came to be in his care through illegal means. SPOILER ALERT! It turns out he rescued her from a house fire that supposedly claimed the life of her mother. He claims to be her father, but something isn’t quite kosher.
ANYWAY, “father and daughter” live in solitude in an isolated house in the bleak suburbs of Detroit. He puts her through rigorous survival training in the surrounding woods. For the most part, he keeps Phoenix confined to their house save for an occasional trip to town with a female friend (Arcila, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels). On one such trip, she’s accosted by a shady-looking character (Sexton, Boys Don’t Cry) in a gas station restroom. Her Rottweiler companion scares him off, but he secretly follows them back to her home with a gang of other scuzzy types. When it gets dark, they kill the dog (BASTARDS!) and quietly sneak into the house with the intention of forcibly removing Phoenix. Naturally, the Blind Man isn’t about to give her up without a fight. And what a fight he puts up!
Co-writer Rodo Sayagues takes over directorial duties from Fede Alvarez with whom he collaborated on both screenplays. He basically pulls a reverse job with Don’t Breathe 2 by having the protagonist go from captor to savior when he tracks the bad guys to an abandoned hotel. That’s when the movie shifts into bloodbath mode. He takes out a number of scumbags with a variety of implements- e.g. hammer, machete and knife. The kid gets into it too, taking out one of the creeps herself. The violence, for the most part, is cool. The only thing I didn’t like was the dog getting killed.
The plot twist- that is, the Blind Man’s big secret- came as a surprise in Don’t Breathe 1. I didn’t see it coming. There’s a couple of surprise twists in Don’t Breathe 2 as well. I didn’t see them specifically, but I was keeping an eye out for something. I knew the abduction wasn’t a random act. The thing that didn’t surprise me was the organ trafficking ring mentioned on a newscast in one scene. I knew it would somehow factor into the plot. Why mention it if it’s not going to come up later? I’ll stop here for fear of revealing things I shouldn’t.
The acting, what can I say about the acting? Lang is good as The Blind Man whose name is Norman Nordstrom according to Wikipedia. In Don’t Breathe 2, he really plays up the tortured soul part, especially at the end when he laments over the bad things he’s done in life (or two movies). Grace, who I’ve never seen before, is good as Phoenix, a lonely little girl who just wants to play with other kids like a normal 11YO. However, she’s quite the little survivor. There’s an early (mostly silent) sequence where she ducks and dodges the invaders while they search the house. There’s a great scene near the end where she escapes from handcuffs by…. aha, I’ll never tell! The actors playing the scumbags all look the part, especially the blonde guy (Brit actor Young) with the hammer.
Atmospheric and suspenseful, Don’t Breathe 2 is a worthy follow-up to its predecessor which is only slightly better, a far cry from being a lot better. It’s that rare sequel that doesn’t disappoint. BTW, be sure to stick around for an end credits scene.
