Intense, Yet Poor Messages to the Viewer

Rating: 4/10 (10 December 2016)

"Don't Breathe" is meant to be an intense thriller. I wouldn't classify it as a horror film. This piece posed some interesting plot spins and unexpected plot twists for sure. However, the miscalculation lies greatly for me in the lack of a wholesome message from the get go, and a lack of character development. From the beginning you see 3 young adults breaking and entering a home to retrieve valuables. Two of the characters strictly retrieve valuables, while the other does unnecessary additional damage including urinating on the the kitchen floor. There is not a clear reason for their burglary. A few more minutes in we see that two of the characters have unfortunate situations, yet the justification for breaking and entering must be seen as invalid. As the burglars looks to move on to their next steal, a lack of remorse is put on situation and is simply justified by the characters themselves as being an act against the rich and greedy, not as a crime for selfish gain. While the demographic of the homeowners may be as such, it does not justify the injustice. When the characters move to the forefront of the remainder of the story, they intend to rob from a blind man in an uninhabited neighborhood. The blind man has his own unfortunate story of the death of his daughter and his own disability. The young adults justify this steal with the idea that this man is also wealthy and has his own dark side. The robbery begins and seems to have poor execution in a sense of sound. For a burglary, and a burglary being done in the home of a man who is blind but with advanced sense of hearing, things are done rather poorly which doesn't speak much sense to the story. A series of small events occur, including one of the characters abandoning the mission, but what is unexpected to the characters but obvious to the viewer, is that they will be discovered by the homeowner who has his own destructive, criminal past.
This movie puts the viewer in a spot to decide who's side is more worth being on, or who is more worthy of life. This is impossible because both are guilty and while the homeowner's discovered crime is punishable by law with more intensity,the behavior of neither party is acceptable. What makes this even more unfortunate, is that their isn't any redemption or conviction on either side, and justice is not served on either side. This is where the message of the movie is distasteful at best. I fear that we are at a place where we no longer long for justice, and if one is not careful, it is very easy to fall in the trap as the viewer to walk out of the film with the idea that the burglars'behavior is justifiable given their disadvantaged circumstances and that because of the blind man's own disgraceful crimes, that somehow the last burglar has a right to the money she walks away with. Besides the moral conflict in the story, there isn't any significant character development or moral of the story. So thematically, the movie also fails in its artistic presentation. It is not clear to the viewer what the takeaway or message is of the artists at work. If the piece was even just to be for sheer entertainment, there are sparks of surprise and suspense, but without those other important pieces like character development, plot significance, etc. it still falls very short of being an engaging, impressive work.