Can You Hold Your Breath?

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2016)

While horror and suspense films have always been around it wasn't until the last decade or so that they've become more mainstream. Where they once appeared on the big screen every few months these days they are released almost weekly. That overabundance means that not every movie is worth your time. But when one comes along that is the word needs to be spread. So let me be the first to say DON'T BREATH is worth your time.
Money (Daniel Zovatto), Alex (Dylan Minette) and Rocky (Jane Levy) are a trio of burglars seeking the big score. Alex' father owns a security company and he lifts keys to various houses, the group breaks in stealing items but no cash and then they reset the alarm and set it off to make sure the victims won't suspect an inside job and can cash in on their insurance. The scores are small but that's all about to change.
Each of the group has their own reasons for their burglaries. Money just wants the cash he can get when he trades off the goods to his fence. Alex hopes to pay for law school. And Rocky lives in a trailer with a psychologically abusive mother and her current lay about boyfriend, abusing both Rocky and her younger sister. Rocky dreams of the day she can escape, taking her sister with her.
Money's fence tells him of a big score. A man (Stephen Lang) whose daughter was killed in an auto accident won a lawsuit of $300,000. Rumor has it he has the money stashed in his house, a house protected by the same security company that Alex' father runs. Alex refuses at first but eventually succumbs to the lure of the loot.
When the trio discovers that the man in question is blind it makes them consider the job easier still. They drug his dog outside the house, enter cautiously and find the man asleep in his room. Money lets loose a homemade knockout bomb and the three set out to search for the money. Except that the man wasn't knocked out and he comes looking for them.
Catching Money but not knowing the other two are there since both are silent, he asks if anyone else is in the house. Money says no and the man kills him. Thus the tables are turned and the hunters now become the hunted. They might think they have the advantage but this is a world that the blind man knows by heart. It is his world. Suddenly the odds are stacked in his favor.
All of this would make a fantastic suspense film. But there is another major surprise in store, one that I know I never saw coming. If you reveal that surprise may a pox be on you. It is one that ups the ante of what is going on and shows a greater depth of character in the blind man than first thought. As the saying goes there is more going on beneath it all than we saw.
First and foremost the story is one of the most original and compelling stories I've seen on film in some time. With the exception of Money you sympathize with each of the other main characters. For Alex he wants to do what's right but is lured by his desire for a better life as well as an attraction to Rocky who is in turn Money's girlfriend. Rocky we care about because of the terrible home life we want to see he escape. And for the blind man we feel bad for not only his predicament but the fate that befell his daughter. The odds of all of them having a happy ending are slim at best.
The acting by all is some of the best but will never garner much attention and certainly not find Oscar worthy mention. Horror films and comedies almost never get those accolades no matter how deserving they might be. While each does an amazing job it will be the acting of Levy and Lang that you will find yourself talking about after watching the film. Lang has been around in a number of great roles including those in AVATAR and TOMBSTONE but never seems to get much praise. That's sad because he's one of the great character actors of our time.
Some have called the movie a horror film but I found it more of a suspense movie. Yes, there are some horrific moments in it but the white knuckle moments are what make this film work. Think of WAIT UNTIL DARK (a movie many have forgotten or have never seen) and you'll know what I mean. If you take the time to invest in watching this film make sure you have your snack of choice on hand when it starts because once it gets going you won't want to stop watching.