Don't Breathe

“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (Ephesians 5:11-12). The world revels in darkness. Indeed, it is entertained by it. Coming out of the theater, I could see smirking expressions and smiles from some people, as if delighted by the darkness we had seen.

“Don’t Breath” begins simple enough. It has every appearance of being another low budget thriller with our “protagonists” being stalked by a cold blooded killer, but it soon takes a plot twist that has earned praise from critics, but which the Lord has warned us about even speaking about. For that reason, the reader need not fear any real spoilers, for I will not even mention some of the disgusting acts which the film portrays. Instead, I hope to warn the reader that this movie is far from entertaining, unless watching terror, torture, and barbarity is entertaining.

The story opens with three teenagers breaking into a house and looting it. One even leaves his “mark” like a dog. They then discover that a blind Iraq war vet is sitting on a large amount of cash hidden away somewhere in his house. They break in at night, but soon find themselves becoming his prey. Eventually, it becomes clear that this Iraq veteran, obviously suffering from PTSD, has no intention of letting the thieves leave his house alive. Barred windows and doors made it hard to break into, but harder to escape from.

Now, what some critics are calling “original” is really just a spin off of the old “Friday the 13th” or “Halloween” films, but in a confined area. The directing is average, the acting okay, but the cinematography is awful. It utilizes the trendy, dull, washed out colors in a way that makes “Batman v. Superman” look bright and cheerful. Now, I know that it is a horror film, but film noir managed look delivers a dark and somber mood while still providing a beautiful look and feel to the movie. The dull colors make it hard to see what is happening in some scenes, and drab looking. The worst part of the film, however, is its content.

The violence is obviously quite heavy, ranging from knifing, stabbing, shooting, brutality, and a host of gory and violent scenes which earn its R-rating. There is also the usual plethora of language and sexual innuendo. In one scene, a mother gestures in a way to emulate fellatio. Nevertheless, the worst part of the film is a mixture of sex and violence, which I will not describe in detail. While there is no nudity, and, technically, no sex, I have listed the sex/nudity content of the film as “Extreme” because of an attempted rape involving a certain object and a certain use.

Interestingly enough, the only thing in the movie worth repeating is the words of the man immediately before attempting the aforementioned action. He says, “There is nothing you cannot do, once you accept the fact that there is no God.” Of course, there is a God, but it is true that the man who has no fear of God can, and does, commit the worst of human atrocities. The worst mass murderers in history are not Islamic terrorist or medieval Inquisitors, but atheists like Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, Pol Pot, and others. Even Hitler was a secular mystic who rejected the idea of a personal God. Therefore, if we are to take anything away from this film, it should be the depravity of the human mind and heart when God is rejected and scorned.

I cannot recommend the movie to anyone. As a film, it is a sadistic derivative of the older slasher flick. It also tends to wear out its welcome as people who should be dead get up and start fighting again, only to get killed for real. It is predictable in many ways, save the cruel acts envisioned by its antagonist. This is the sort of thing to which Paul was referring when he urged us “Do not… even speak of the things which are done by [wicked men] in secret” (Ephesians 5:11-12).

Violence: Heavy to extreme / Profanity: Very Heavy to extreme—“Jesus” (3), “Swear to f*cking G*d” (1), “Hell” (1), f-words (42), s-words (6), “p*ssy” (1), “a**” (3) / Sex/Nudity: Extreme

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.