Title: Breathe
Director(s): Stefon Bristol
Screenwriter(s): Doug Simon
Released: 2024
Runtime: 1h 33m
● Set in the year 2039, Earth’s oxygen levels have been for a few years at 5%. Plant life is practically non-existent. Although not explained what events triggered this sudden change, the tone is basically another post-climate-change-apocalyptic disaster film.
● Husband and father Darius Houston is an engineer who built an oxygen generator and shelter. One day, he fails to return home, leaving behind his wife Maya (Jennifer Hudson) and daughter Zora (Quvenzhané Wallis). Later, a woman named Tess (Milla Jovovich) accompanied by Lucas (Sam Worthington) turns up. Tess claims to have worked with Darius in the past and wants to look at their oxygen generator in order to replicate it for their community. Maya and Zora do not trust her and so there is a standoff…
● The premise is already a bit cringe but the real problem is that the narrative is unspectacular. It is supposed to be a thriller of sorts but it never takes off. There is a little tension and intrigue. Is Tess being truthful? Jovovich gives a decent performance as a somewhat grey character but the film has nothing else going for it.
● The other performances, however, are inconsistent. It is convincing in some scenes but very forced in others.
● The film is short and tries to be tight. At least it doesn’t outright drag but the pacing is not quite right either. It is appreciated that the opening act is unhurried, spending quite a bit of time with Darius and his family before he disappears. But then there is a shift in tone with Zora acting as the narrator for a scene or two, which then stops, and there is then another shift when Tess turns up. The latter feels almost like a shift in genre.
● There are also too many annoyances:
Earth’s oxygen levels apparently dropped from 27% to 5% when the textbook figure is 21%.
The computer voice is too loud and insistent.
The personal oxygen levels when they are outside are an obvious device for suspense. However, this is poorly executed because the levels and timing are either too convenient or don’t make sense.
The “We Can’t Breathe” mural is seriously cringe. The environmentalistic premise is arguably tolerable and there is nothing wrong with a story about a black family defending their home. And if the aggressors happen to be white people, so be it since white people make up most of the population in the US anyway. The way it is executed the message is already in-your-face but the mural really jars the audience out of the story.
Lucas is the stereotypical threatening jerk, which is fine as the film needs an antagonist. For some reason, the guy likes to make the Sign of the Cross. What’s the message here? I am not suggesting all Christians are nice people but there is conveniently little background on his character.
● The cinematography is good. Despite resorting to the orange diffuse glow, it’s mostly shot and edited nicely enough.
● Overall, the film doesn’t look bad but is otherwise uninteresting.
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