Justice, Blood, and a second Chance — Don't Breathe 2 Review

These are the lines that open Don't Breathe 2, a sequel to Don't Breathe, [a movie I reviewed some time ago](https://peakd.com/hive-121744/@phyna/a-5-star-thriller-you). I never really thought I would enjoy this movie because the reviews I saw were bad. But since I really, really loved Don't Breathe, the horrible reviews couldn’t stop me from clicking the download button. I watched it and enjoyed every bit of it. There were times I was smiling at the brutality of the blind man, because unlike the first film, his victims really did deserve it.

Don’t Breathe 2 is a 2021 action-horror thriller co-written by Fede Alvarez alongside Rodo Sayagues, who also takes the director’s seat this time. It stars Stephen Lang as Norman Nordstrom (The Blind Man), Madelyn Grace as Phoenix, and Brendan Sexton III as Raylan.

Set eight years after the events of the first movie, Don't Breathe 2 brings us into the isolated life of Norman and a young girl named Phoenix, who he claims as his daughter. They live together with his pet Rottweiler, Shadow. But peace is short-lived, and his past soon crawls back when a violent gang invades their home with dark intentions, forcing Norman to tap into his lethal instincts once again.

Storyline

The movie opens with Phoenix, an 11-year-old girl, living a secluded life with Norman. Phoenix is deprived of freedom, homeschooled and prevented from going out. She's uncomfortable indoors and desires to see outside and have fun like every other kid. She asked about her mum, but he told her he lost everything, including her mum's pictures, in a burnt house and could only save her.

One day, Phoenix encounters a mysterious man named Raylan, during a rare visit to town with Hernandez, Norman's only connection to society. The man couldn’t abduct her because she was with Shadow. However, he sent his gang to follow her back home. They harvested Hernandez’s organ on her way back and later in the evening invaded Norman’s home.

The first thing they did was trap and kill Shadow, which Norman later discovered. After realizing Shadow was shot, he turned back to protect his home. But these criminals weren’t after money or valuables, they were after Phoenix. Norman springs into action. The fight was brutal; he didn’t hold back in taking their lives in horrific ways. Soon enough, they realized this was no ordinary blind man.

As the story unfolds, it’s revealed that Phoenix is not his biological daughter. This made Norman the villain again, but the producers didn’t let us see him that way for too long. Raylan convin Phoenix that he was her true father and introduced her to her biological mother who is terminally ill and needs a heart transplant from a relative which is Phoenix.

The old man, led by Raylan’s abandoned dog, located their house and disrupted the transplant by disconnecting their power supply. Despite being gravely wounded, Norman fights with relentless determination. One by one, he takes out the criminals in terrifying manner, driven by the sole aim of saving Phoenix.

My Opinion

I would say Don't Breathe 2 surprised me in the best way. I appreciated how the movie took a villain and gave him a redemptive arc, without trying to erase his past. The action was intense, the cinematography dark and effective, and the pacing kept me hooked.

What stood out most was the complexity of Norman’s character. He’s still dangerous, still morally flawed, but he’s driven by a pure purpose: saving the girl he raised. You can’t help it but forget his sins and root for him to win. His first win of sympathy was when he mourned his dog and refused to kill the criminal’s dog when the opportunity presented itself. That bit of humanity in him was enough to tug at anybody’s heart.
In the end, I realized that this was the aim of the producers in this sequel, to humanize the blind man and give him a redemptive arc. Ironically, that’s also what many critics found irritating. They couldn’t bring themselves to forgive his inhuman acts from the first movie, even though he had faced his own share of karma and shown clear remorse.

The characters are well-developed, and none of them come across as stupid or flat.

Recommendation

If you enjoyed Don’t Breathe, this sequel is a must-watch, but go in knowing it flips the script. Don’t Breathe 2 is less of a suspenful film and more of a dark action-thriller with emotional weight. It’s violent, intense, and occasionally uncomfortable, but it tells a story worth seeing.
It has the capacity to stand on its own as a full movie. So even if you don’t want to watch the first movie, you can still enjoy this one perfectly. But because I don’t want to deprive you of a suspenseful thriller filled with emotion, tension, and a complex character journey, I recommend you first watch Don't Breathe.

It's a big 9/10 for me.

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