If you’re looking for the epitome of a movie hero, Uruguayan director and co-writer Rodo Sayagues and co-writer and co-producer Fede Álvarez want you to know that you won’t find that character in their newest film, Don’t Breathe 2.
“We tell our stories from a slightly different point of view,” Álvarez told Remezcla during a recent interview. “Hollywood loves to create perfect, moralistic characters. Our characters are different from the standard perfect family or perfect student or some horror trope.”
In Don’t Breathe 2, Sayagues and Álvarez continue the story of Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang), a blind and slightly unhinged military veteran who had to defend his Detroit home in the original movie from a trio of delinquents looking for cash. This time around, things are different because they’re simply not after money. They’re there to kidnap his 11-year-old daughter.
Sayagues and Álvarez, who worked together to make the 2013 Evil Dead remake and 2016 Don’t Breathe, point to their unique cultural experiences in Uruguay that speak to the kind of narratives they like to write.
“If we came here as Latin Americans and made movies exactly like our American counterparts, it wouldn’t matter that we’re from Latin America,” Álvarez said. “Our characters are way more complex. Those are the stories we want to tell.”
This includes the stories of not only Norman but the men who are trying to take his daughter. Álvarez remembers when the first trailer for Don’t Breathe 2 debuted, he saw some chatter online that questioned why the film’s main characters were antagonists.
“Uruguay is a very specific place, even in Latin America,” Álvarez said. “We come from a place where the realities are that there’s poverty. No one wants to be a [criminal], but if you do [become one], it’s society that puts you in that place.”
Uruguayan director/co-writer Rodo Sayagues and co-writer/co-producer Fede Álvarez are the team behind the sequel ‘Don’t Breathe 2.’Sayagues adds: “We just do what we do from our hearts and try to be honest and hope for the best.”
Don’t Breathe 2 hits theaters this weekend.