Don’t Breathe 2

Written by Alexander Reams

20/100

Sequels are rarely warranted within the horror genre. The deciding factor almost always seems to be greed. Money after all is the ultimate motivator of studios. This is clearly the case in the half-baked, boring, and surprisingly comedic Don’t Breathe 2. The creative team behind the first entry have returned, with the major change being the director. Rodo Sayagues takes over the director chair from Fede Alvarez, and while both co-wrote the screenplay, Alvarez is just on writing and producing duties this time around. The plot is vastly different from the first, instead of being locked in a house, they attempt to expand the world with the murderer-rapist going to save his adopted daughter after she is kidnapped. Trying to make him the hero in the process. See the issue? Oh that’s just the start. 

I can say about Don’t Breathe 2 does feature Stephen Lang, Brendan Sexton III as “Raylan”, and the cinematography will. Lang became iconic as the Blind Man in the first film and continues to bring that same drive and commitment to his performance. Thankfully not sleepwalking like almost everyone else in the movie. Sexton brings a certain brutality that was lacking in the other characters from the original. The last positive thing I can bring attention to is the cinematography by Pedro Luque, who reprises his role from the first. Employing long takes throughout the house which adds to the tension, despite almost everything else weakening or outright breaking it. 

The biggest issue with the film is the writing, forgetting the logic and backstory that was presented in the first film, trying to make a man who tied a woman up and attempted to rape her, and presumably already had raped the other woman in the basement, the hero. There is no redemption for him. He is supposed to be scum, we should not pull for him, and yet that is precisely what the film wants you to feel. I felt disgusted when the film was over, even with all of the laughter my audience exuded by the end. I was disgusted at the fact that this film wants to redeem this psychopath who has done nothing good with his life besides serving his country, then morphing into this villain. I cannot in good conscience recommend anyone go see this. If you want to support the original, I understand, however what this film is about is embarrassing, and is among the worst examples of an unnecessary sequel that has the unfathomable ability to tarnish the original just by its feeble existence.

Don’t Breathe 2 Trailer

Don’t Breathe 2 is currently in wide theatrical release.

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