This 2016 movie is relentlessly tense.
Don’t Breathe, the incredible 2016 thriller movie, has just been added to Netflix.
Co-written and directed by Fede Álvarez (2013’s Evil Dead, Alien: Romulus), the movie centres around Rocky (a charismatic Jane Levy, Evil Dead) – a young woman and thief longing to escape her abusive home in Detroit by moving to California with her young sister.
As such, she and her friends Alex (Dylan Minnette, 13 Reasons Why) and Money (Daniel Zovatto, It Follows) decide to rob a blind war veteran (a terrifying Stephen Lang, Avatar) who they hear won a major cash settlement following the death of his only child.
“Figuring he’s an easy target, the trio invades the man’s secluded home in an abandoned neighbourhood,” the plot synopsis reads.
“Finding themselves trapped inside, the young intruders must fight for their lives after making a shocking discovery about their supposedly helpless victim.”
With its claustrophobic setting, increasingly twisted story, inventively scary set pieces, and brilliant performances – particularly from Lang and Levy – Don’t Breathe is consistently tense and gasp-inducing.
A hit at the box office and with critics – it earned an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score – the thriller was such a success in fact that a sequel, titled Don’t Breathe 2, was released in 2021 which saw Lang reprising his role.
You can read a sample of some of the positive reviews for the original right here:
Detroit News: “Don’t Breathe is a breathless, visceral, nerve-racking thrill ride that doesn’t stop coming at you until its final gasps.”
New Yorker: “The suspense is built as carefully as it is in a good John Carpenter movie; Alvarez uses the camera like a stealth weapon, exploring dark corners and hidden areas of the house with devilish glee.”
Philadelphia Inquirer: “One of the most suspenseful, terrifying, and devilishly original horror pics in recent memory.”
The Verge: “Don’t Breathe is still a thrilling experience that effectively puts the audience in the protagonists’ place: uncertain, cringing, afraid to even breathe because of the potential consequences.”
Vox: “[A] taut, appropriately breath-stealing new movie that galvanises the tired home invasion sub-genre of horror the way films like The Witch and It Follows have done for the coven and slasher sub-genres.”
Don’t Breathe is streaming on Netflix in the UK and Ireland right now.
This is as Don’t Breathe 2 can be watched currently in the same areas via Prime Video.
Read more:
- The first must-see movie of 2025 is finally available to watch this week
- One of the best Irish movies of the decade is now streaming on BBC iPlayer
