A film that shines in the darkness, Fede Álvarez’s horror-thriller Don’t Breathe revels in tension. Álvarez successfully turns a simple plot setting into an ambiguous and unpredictable masterpiece. Starring Stephen Lang as The Blind Man, Jane Levy as Rocky, Dylan Minnette as Alex, and Daniel Zovatto as Money, the tension in Don’t Breathe mirrors that of Panic Room. With the release of Don’t Breathe 2 coming closer, people are reminded of the grim nature of its predecessor, with the hope that the sequel can hold up to its thrill and grit.
Based in Detroit, Don’t Breathe portrays the lives of three teenage kids, Rocky, Alex, and Money, who commit petty thefts for a living, breaking into people’s houses and stealing their goods. Rocky wishes to move to California with Diddy, her younger sister, to escape from her family as her mother was abusive while her boyfriend was a raging alcoholic. The trio had a fence but post their recent theft, for which they were expecting a hefty amount, their fence devalued the items. And this was a recurring event in their lives. They get a tip about Norman Nordstorm (Stephen Lang), a veteran of the Gulf War who allegedly had $300,000 in cash which was allegedly a settlement after Cindy Roberts, a wealthy woman, murdered his daughter. The trio break into his house and realise that he is blind.
They find a locked basement door and after finding it impossible to break it, they use a gun to do so, waking the Blind Man from his gas-induced sleep. Despite being blind, he overpowers Money and uses his gun to kill him. Once he leaves, Alex and Rocky use that opportunity to steal the cash. However, when the Blind Man returns on suspecting the involvement of others, he finds the safe empty. Meanwhile, Rocky and Alex enter the basement where they find a pregnant Cindy Roberts, restrained. When they free her, the Blind Man shoots at them and by accident, kills Cindy, causing him to break down as he was the one who had chemically impregnated her to bear him a surrogate baby (as payback for killing his daughter).
Rocky and Alex encounter the Blind Man’s Rottweiler and try to escape but Alex is knocked out. Once he awakens, he is cornered by the Blind Man who appears to kill him. Rocky manages to escape but is caught and restrained later when the Blind Man reveals the truth about Cindy bearing a replacement child for him. Despite several attempts at escaping, the Blind Man ends up killing Alex while Rocky is the only one fortunate enough to escape.
These events give rise to several questions. How did Rocky escape? What happened to Alex? How did the Blind Man try to infamously impregnate Cindy? Does he do it again? How terrorising is the movie? Fortunately, every question here comes with an answer.
Ending: Explained
The Blind Man (a.k.a the Blind Man) is a sadistic antagonist in the movie. Since the leading cast members are thieves, people are likely to envision them as the “bad guys” in the movie but as the plot unravels, the Blind Man’s abusive nature takes the centre stage while the audience is made to change their allegiance towards the thieves. Cindy is also villainised in the beginning as she is the one who killed the Blind Man’s daughter but his animalistic behaviour towards her flips the scales, portraying her as the one who is being victimised.
The situation towards the ending is bleak. Set in a house where the space is seemingly less, Alvarez uses the element of claustrophobia to instill the thrill into his audience. This is especially apparent once the scene shifts to the basement where the Blind Man held Cindy captive. As he finds that Alex and Rocky have freed her, he shoots at them. But, the bullet misses and Cindy ends up dying. The Blind Man breaks down completely and is severely distressed. He cries vehemently over her dead body. His extreme emotional response seems strange as he had held her captive. But the movie answers this later.
He shuts off the lights in the basement, putting Alex and Rocky at a major disadvantage as the Blind Man, being blind, did not need light anyway unlike the others. A scene of blind chase is followed by struggle until Alex successfully knocks out the Blind Man and flees upstairs with Rocky. They block the basement door but the Blind Man had a rottweiler who was knocked asleep by the sleeping gas they had used before robbing the safe. The duo encounter the dog but they manage to flee into the bedroom. The bedroom has a ventilation duct, which Rocky uses to escape. Alex attempts to do the same but falls from a window onto a skylight. The crash knocks him out for a while and as he wakes up, he finds himself cornered by the Blind Man who shoots at the skylight. He creates darkness once again, which happens to be a recurring theme in the movie and appears to kill him using a pair of garden shears. Meanwhile, his rottweiler chases after Rocky through the vents during her escape until she is eventually captured by the Blind Man. He knocks her unconscious and restrains her.
When Rocky gains consciousness, the film has its infamous reveal as the Blind Man explains his relationship with Cindy. She was pregnant with the Blind Man’s child because he wanted a “replacement” for losing his daughter. As it is known that he lost his daughter due to Cindy, the Blind Man wanted her to pay for it by bearing him another one. He then prepares to do the same to Rocky, as Cindy was dead and promises to let her go after she gives him the child. However, there is a twist which reveals that Alex had used Money’s corpse to trick the Blind Man into thinking that he stabbed and killed Alex. He manages to save Rocky and also handcuffs the Blind Man.
Rocky and Alex use the front door as they attempt to escape while the Blind Man breaks free and shoots at Alex, this time killing him for real. Rocky is pursued by the Blind Man’s dog while she flees but she traps him in the trunk of her car. However, this moment of relief does not last long and the Blind Man gets hold of her again. He drags her back inside his house but she sets off the alarm system. This disorients him and she gets her hands on a crowbar, which she uses to hit him on the head repeatedly. She then pushes him into the basement while the gun fires towards him as he falls. Afraid that the police might accuse her of murder, Rocky escapes successfully.
In the end, Rocky is seen with her younger sister Diddy, watching the news about the incident where the Blind Man is seen hospitalised. He is reported for the murder of Alex and Money but in self-defense. Rocky had escaped with the $300,000 but the Blind Man does not mention that. With that money, Rocky and Diddy are seen boarding a train to Los Angeles.
How did the Blind Man try to impregnate Cindy and Rocky?
The impregnation scene is by far the most controversial moment in Don’t Breathe. Gritty beyond measure, the scene is extremely problematic and the pinnacle of the darkness that the movie tries to portray. The Blind Man wishes to have another child and he wants Cindy to be the surrogate. He does not wish to get himself involved with her physically. It is unknown whether that is out of morality or not. He collects his semen in a turkey baster and uses it to impregnate his victim. He justifies his sadistic action by stating that at least he is not sexually assaulting her for a child. As Cindy is the surrogate, it explains the reason for his breakdown due to her death because he lost what could’ve been his child, once again. Which is why he tries to put Rocky through the same.
When Rocky regains consciousness, she finds herself tied to a harness in the basement and the atmosphere shifts into one with a perverted undertone. This scene shows the Blind Man carrying his semen in a turkey baster and it is problematic to say the least and gut-wrenching in the worst ways. It is also the most sinister part of the movie. What makes it worse is that the portrayal of this action is presented as a regular and mundane activity. The Blind Man rips off Rocky’s trousers in the most casual way possible, as if it is just another clerical activity for him. This scene is also detrimental in turning the narrative of the antagonists of the movie upside-down as the baton is passed on to the Blind Man.
What would’ve happened if Rocky did not escape?
The makers had a different, more grim ending in mind before changing into the more positive one that we see today. As the movie builds itself to create sympathy for the Blind Man as an unfortunate man who lost his daughter to an accident, his eyesight during the Gulf War, and is now being looted, the turkey baster scene turns its head upside down by demonstrating how twisted he is as a person. Even though the ending preserves the audience’s switch in allegiance against the Blind Man, the original ending was set to be far worse and way darker. In the original script, Rocky is captured by the Blind Man via a secret trap door. He conceals her in a dingy cellar, hiding her away from any possible means of escape as he expects her to be the new surrogate for his child. She was set up to bear his baby after which, she probably would’ve gained her freedom back but whether the latter would happen or not is known.
What is going to happen in the sequel?
Don’t Breathe 2 is set to take place after several years following the first movie where Rocky, Alex, and Money invaded the home of the Blind Man for looting money. His obsession towards wanting another child is known but as he does not have a surrogate anymore, he has seemingly adopted an orphan. He had rescued her from a house fire when she was even younger and had raised her with him in his isolated cabin. However, things go south for him once again when his daughter is kidnapped by a group of kidnappers, forcing the Blind Man to leave his cabin and save his daughter. It is not known whether the sequel will follow the dark nature of Don’t Breathe throughout.
Don’t Breathe 2 will hit the theatres on August 12, 2021 in the USA and will be directed by Rogo Sayagues. Stephen Lang reprises his role as The Blind Man while the rest of the ensemble comprises Rocci Willians, Bobby Schofield, Stephanie Arcila, Adam Young, Diana Babnicova, and Christian Zagia.