MovieChat Forums > Don't Breathe (2016) Discussion > Family scene was so contrived! (among ot...

Family scene was so contrived! (among other things)

posted 8 years ago by mychellefilosa
6 replies | jump to latest

My friends really enjoyed this movie but I couldn't get past the lack of acting chops.
One scene in particular, where you meet the main girls Mother... it felt so fake and like they were just doing the usual "abusive parent" scene to get sympathy for the girl. There was no chemistry whatsoever, even between the sisters. The Mother's lines were totally contrived and ill-delivered. As someone who enjoys movies and dark dramas as much as I do, I almost laughed at their attempt to build a cookie-cutter sad story for this young lady.
(all this PLUS the glaring continuity errors made this a mediocre theatre visit for me)
My friends didn't see any of the problems I did, and I'm wondering if I'm alone here?

[–] wooody 8 years ago

BRAVO!!!

[–] dbdolan 8 years ago

I really liked this movie. That scene you mentioned is a tough part to execute. It is, as you say, a bit of "the usual abusive parent" scene so that we have sympathy with the girl rather than just see her as a teen robbing a blind guy. It's one of those situations where you kind of HAVE to have that scene as almost a "check box" for the character, but do you prolong it and drag it out, or do it quickly (as they did) and it seems almost throwaway. I agree that it was a weak spot.

[–] pecinqa 8 years ago

I totally get this.

My only argument is that the movie is far more about it's atmosphere and tension, rather than any meaningful character interaction, or story element.

It was definitely there only to set up Rocky's motivations for the film. I agree it was pretty weak, but it served it's purpose.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] karstenschmieder 8 years ago

I didnt mind the short time they spent on the family because that was surely not the focus of the movie but to put so many obsceneties in such a short time felt extremely laughable. The remark about the lips? The swastika on the "fathers" hand? It almost felt like a SNL parody.

[–] thebogofeternalstench 8 years ago

Totally agree mychellefilosa. The movie for me was a massive piece of *beep* Ham fisted acting, i did not give one *beep* about any of the characters, but i did feel Alex did not deserve to die.

How about Stephen Langs ridiculous voice? As soon as he spoke I burst out laughing in the cinema.