What actually happens
A fence who keeps undervaluing the merchandise
Rocky, Alex and Money are three delinquents in Detroit who earn a living by breaking into houses. Rocky dreams of taking her little sister Diddy to California, away from their abusive mother and the mother's boyfriend, who drinks. The trio is irritated because their fence keeps giving them too little for what they steal. Money gets a tip from the fence that a Gulf War veteran named Norman Nordstrom keeps $300,000 in cash at home on an abandoned Detroit street, a settlement paid after a wealthy young woman named Cindy Roberts killed his daughter in a car accident. The three stake out the house and discover Norman cannot see, since shrapnel from a grenade injured both his eyes in Iraq.
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A sleeping gas plan that wakes the one man it was for
That night the gang drugs Norman's rottweiler and breaks in. Money leaves a bottle of sleeping gas in Norman's bedroom, then notices a locked basement door, assumes the money is down there and shoots the lock. The bang wakes Norman, who beats Money, takes the gun and shoots him while Rocky watches in horror. Rocky then sees Norman open a hidden safe to check on his valuables. Once he goes, she opens it and helps herself to the cash. Norman finds the shoes that belong to her and Money and works out that someone else is in the house. He comes back to find the safe empty.
A basement with a woman and no windows
Rocky and Alex slip past Norman and get to the basement, where they find a pregnant woman who is gagged and tied up. She turns out to be Cindy Roberts. They free her and try to open the storm cellar door, but Norman fires at them and accidentally shoots Cindy dead. He breaks down and cries over her. Norman then cuts the lights, and the basement chase happens in the dark until Alex manages to knock him out and the two run upstairs. They block the basement door, meet the dog, who has woken up, and run into the bedroom. Rocky escapes through an air duct. Alex drops out of a window, lands on a skylight and is knocked out. Norman breaks the skylight with a gunshot, follows him to the utility room and stabs him there with garden shears. The dog follows Rocky through the vents until Norman captures her.
Norman has a turkey baster and a plan
Rocky wakes up tied down in the basement. Norman explains that Cindy was carrying a replacement for his daughter. He plans to use a turkey baster to get Rocky pregnant instead and says he will let her go after she has the baby. This is the scene people dread, and it comes in the middle of the movie. You see him prepare, but Alex, who survived by getting Norman to stab Money's corpse instead of him, comes in before anything else happens. He frees Rocky and handcuffs Norman.
The ending, explained
Rocky and Alex head for the front door, but Norman gets loose and shoots Alex dead. Rocky runs, traps the dog in the trunk of her car, and is captured again. Back in the house she sets off the alarm to confuse Norman, swings a crowbar at his head again and again and shoves him down into the basement, where the gun fires into his side as he falls. Thinking he is dead, she leaves before the police arrive. Later she sits in a train station cafe with Diddy and their bags and sees on the news that Norman is stable in the hospital. He is reported to have killed two intruders in self-defense, and he says nothing about Rocky, Cindy or the money. Rocky and Diddy go to catch their train to California.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed either way whether there is a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Don't Breathe scary?
Yes, Don't Breathe is a 6 out of 10 with medium dread. It has some jump scares and a tense dark basement chase, and one scene that is more uncomfortable than frightening.
How does Don't Breathe end?
Rocky beats Norman with a crowbar and shoves him into the basement, then leaves. Norman survives and is reported to have killed two intruders in self-defense. Rocky and Diddy head for a train to California.
Does the dog die in Don't Breathe?
No dog dies in Don't Breathe. The dog is drugged, chases Rocky through the vents, and ends up shut in her car trunk.
Is there a post-credits scene in Don't Breathe?
Nobody has confirmed either way whether Don't Breathe has a scene after the credits.
Why is Norman keeping Cindy in the basement in Don't Breathe?
Cindy killed Norman's daughter in a car accident, and he wants her to bear a replacement child. He has her gagged and tied up in the basement of his house.
