When the closing scene concluded in Don’t Breathe, it was clear that they intended to do a sequel. And now, Stephen Lang is back, and Sony Pictures has produced a trailer for the upcoming Don’t Breathe 2. It appears that this time, the blind man is going to be something of an antihero.
It’s the sequel to a movie that many doubted should have a sequel. After all, the premise of the first movie has pretty much been spent, having shown the dangerous and near-monstrous character of Stephen Lang’s blind man, Norman Nordstrom. The original film was such a tense affair, where Nordstrom hunts down and kills the young would-be burglars who infiltrated his home, it seems hard to see how they could follow up on a story that had such a confined premise.
Director Fede Alvarez is also back, and he may just have figured out a great way to flip the script. Nordstrom has been on the run, hiding in the woods since he fled the scene from the previous movie. Over the course of a few years, he has befriended Phoenix, a young girl orphaned by a house fire (Madelyn Grace), and living a life of solitude in a remote cabin. When Phoenix is kidnapped by a group of young thugs, it’s up to Norman to deliver blind justice! (Terrible pun courtesy of Scariest Things.)
Seeing this trailer, I have gone from skeptical to curious. This just might work… some of the logistics aside. After all, a man like Nordstrom shouldn’t be that hard to track down. He’s pretty unique. But, I will suspend disbelief and give Alvarez and crew a chance to prove they can strike lightning twice.
This premise is in some ways akin to the Terminator sequel idea. Take the best thing from the previous movie, and make him a sympathetic monster. A monster you can root for. There were moments in the original where that was the case, after all, it was his home that had been invaded. He was defending home turf. But, the secret in the basement proved him to be a horrible human. Let’s see if the turkey baster makes a return appearance!
Don’t Breathe 2 is scheduled for release on August 13, 2021.