The Ending Of Don't Breathe Explained

There are plenty of horror tropes out there that audiences are all too familiar with, which is what makes a film like "Don't Breathe" such a breath of fresh air (no pun intended). It's an ideal horror flick to watch if you hate gore, but enjoy a good reversal of fortunes. In the movie, viewers watch the events from the perspective of a group of burglars, who have understandable enough motivations that we root for them as they break into a blind old man's house. The house itself is fairly nice, while the street it's on is deserted, meaning there's no one around to help anyone. When the old man starts hunting the burglars down, it makes for a chilling movie that has to be seen to be believed. 

A sequel is on the way that's easily one of the most hotly anticipated horror films of 2021, and which producer Sam Raimi called "only the greatest idea for a sequel I've ever heard. I'm not kidding" (via IGN). With a return to madness coming to the big screen shortly, it's now the perfect time to look back on the original and see how the first film ends and sets up the future of the franchise.

Three burglars enter the house while only one leaves. Rocky (Jane Levy) makes it out but only after brutally beating and shooting the Blind Man (Stephen Lang) and leaving him for dead. She's ready to start a new life with her little sister, when she sees a news report about an armed robbery. The reporter mentions how two people broke into the Blind Man's house, forcing him to defend himself. Not only does the news report tell us that the man is still alive, but he purposely chose to lie to authorities that another person was involved in the break-in.

After the report, Rocky and Diddy (Emma Bercovici) go about their way, off to Los Angeles, far away from the Blind Man. If one thing's clear from the preceding horror show, it's that Rocky's never going to escape the trauma she underwent while in his house. When the Blind Man looks at the news camera one last time before he's carted away, you can almost see a smile underneath the respirator he's wearing, like he's continuing to taunt her. 

Considering both her and the old man are alive, there are ample directions for "Don't Breathe 2" to take. Is it possible for the Blind Man to track Rocky and her sister down and finish the job he started at his home? "Don't Breathe 2" is set to be released on August 13, 2021, so all should be revealed then.

Content warning: sexual assault.

The original ending of "Don't Breathe" was going to be, hauntingly enough, even more depressing.

If you've seen the film, then you undoubtedly remember the scene where the Blind Man reveals how he kidnapped the woman who killed his daughter. He subsequently inseminated the woman artificially so that she could make himself a replacement daughter, but amid the chaos, the woman ends up dying. The Blind Man proceeds to tie Rocky up to do the same to her, but she's rescued at the last minute. 

In an interview with screenwriter Rodo Sayagues, published by Cinema Blend, he talks about the original, bleaker finale: "So the trap door she would walk by it and then a hand would come out and grab her leg and drag her in. By the time the police shows up, they never find her because that part of the cellar was more concealed. It's inside of the wall. It's actually under the next door's house — it's a tunnel that connected with the other house that's abandoned next door and that's the cellar he was using."

It would definitely be a downer note to see Rocky locked away, especially when you consider there would've been no one to save her sister from their abusive mother. Sayagues goes on to discuss why they decided to change it: "In the storytelling myth, she kind of deserved to win. It was really depressing. It was one of those, like, 'Oh, f***, really? After all of this and then she ends up there?'" 

It's likely for the best. Now, the "Don't Breathe" franchise can carry on with subsequent sequels. Perhaps "Hold Your Breath" and "Out of Breath" could be titles?