Don't Breathe is a 2016 American horror film[4] co-produced and directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote it with Rodo Sayagues.
The project, originally titled A Man in the Dark, was announced in early 2014, with Álvarez directing, Sayagues writing, and Levy starring.
In contrast to his previous work on Evil Dead (2013), Álvarez decided the project would have less blood, an original storyline, more suspense, and no dependence on supernatural elements—which he felt were overused.
Rocky longs to move to California with her younger sister, Diddy, and escape from their abusive mother and her alcoholic boyfriend.
Money receives a tip from their fence that Gulf War veteran Norman Nordstrom has $300,000 in cash in his house in an abandoned Detroit neighborhood.
It was reportedly a settlement after a wealthy young woman, Cindy Roberts, killed Norman's daughter in a car accident.
The noise wakes up Nordstrom, who overpowers Money, takes the gun, and kills him while Rocky, horrified, watches silently.
When he awakens, Nordstrom shoots out the skylight, corners him in the utility room, and stabs him with a pair of garden shears.
After being dragged back inside his house, she disorients him by setting off the alarm system, then hits him repeatedly in the head with a crowbar and pushes him into the basement.
In response, Álvarez decided to make Don't Breathe, an original story that contained less blood and focused more on suspense over shocking audiences.
"[9]Álvarez has called the film an "exercise in reversal" noting that the film deliberately subverts tropes such as the fact that the house in question is a "nice house on a scary street" as opposed to the opposite, or that the movie is a home invasion story told from the point of view of the invaders.
[2] Álvarez estimated that the film cost roughly half as much as Evil Dead, and welcomed the change, as it allowed for less studio interference.
The site's critical consensus reads, "Don't Breathe smartly twists its sturdy premise to offer a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to the home invasion genre that's all the more effective for its simplicity.
[16] Dennis Harvey of Variety called Don't Breathe "a muscular exercise in brutal, relentless peril that should please genre fans.
"[2] Jim Vejvoda of IGN awarded 8.8/10 and wrote, "Director Fede Álvarez delivers a lean, very mean thrill ride with Don't Breathe, tapping into several primal human fears and further establishing himself as one of the genre filmmakers to keep an eye on in the years ahead.
[21] Jim Hemphill of Filmmaker Magazine called it "the best American horror film in twenty years.
[3] Due to its low production budget, the film became a sleeper hit and was considered a large financial success, with a net profit of $59.1 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.
[16] In total, it grossed $26.4 million in its opening weekend, far above initial projections by 120% and easily displacing Suicide Squad to take the top spot at the box office.
[35][36] Although the film fell to third place in its third weekend as a result of being overtaken by Sully and When the Bough Breaks, it continued to witness strong holds by falling 49% after adding another 333 theaters.
The film was to begin principal photography in April 2020, with a script co-written by Rodo Sayagues and Álvarez, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.