Lately, have you ever been wanting to watch a thriller movie to pump up your spirits and shake you out of your cozy shell? Well, bingo! Because, ‘Don’t Breathe’ is a movie that is intended to do serve the purpose. I personally give it the credit of being the most nail-biting, intense and sensational suspense thriller. The title itself is very apt and fitting, both metaphorically and literally,  as it justifies the purpose of watching the film.

The film is about a gang of three thieves busting into a blind old man’s house at midnight, in search of a considerable amount of money. The house in question is a huge 3-story independent structure located in a desolate, uninhabited part of the city.

It seems as easy as a pie, doesn’t it? Robbing a pathetic, piteous, blind old man, with no neighbors to account for the theft.. It is not as easy however.. Little did they know that the old man in question was a hardened US war veteran and his acute sense of auditory and olfactory system more than compensated for his inability to see.

The 3 thieves knock the owner’s dog unconscious, bust open a window and jump into a bathroom on the second floor. They then turn off the alarm system and two of them start scouring the house in search of the money while the other slowly enters the old man’s room and knocks him unconscious with a sleep inducing gas. They search the entire house tip toeing to every nook and cranny and prying open every rack and cup board but to no avail.

At last, they stumble upon a small door in the hall, leading down to the attic. When they try to open it, it wouldn’t budge as it has been secured tightly with many bolts. They shoot it with a gun, confident that the old man must’ve passed out by now..And it comes off it’s hinges. Bam! Then they suddenly see the old man standing a few inches away from them, a gun in his hands, and an outrageous look in his eyes, touching and feeling things and yelling to hear someone. The trio of them hold their breath in fear, while the audience, held their breath in anticipation.

This is when the real chase starts!

Then one thief recovers, pulls out his gun and menacingly tells the blind man to stay still ! The old man freezes in his tracks, gropes his muscular hands in the air, cocks his head, sniffs in the air and turns towards the thieves.

What happens next is totally unexpected !  He rivets his ears to the sounds, moves forward in a flash and grips the gun. The thief feels as if his hands were caught in an iron wrench. In a moment the old man snatches the gun and fires !

The other two thieves cautiously tip-toe to the attic and hide there, fearing that even the slightest sound they make might lead them to their deaths.

From then on, the roles of the victim and culprit get interchanged, with the old man patiently and methodically tracking  down the other two thieves and killing them one by one, relishing their death by slowly choking the life out of them.

The real beauty and ingenuity of the story lies in the fact that a blind, old man can pretty well outwit three young, experienced professional thieves. The viewers experience conflicting emotions for the old man, sympathizing with his situation of getting robbed of his life savings, repulsed by the brutality of his killings, and aversion to the “skeletons in his attic” ( which would be revealed when you watch the movie).

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