Breathe (2015)
86%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: 1 nomination
Breathe finds writer-director Mélanie Laurent opening a sensitive, well-acted window into the bittersweet upheaval of adolescence
Breathe is like Mean Girls meets a horror movie, but with a French twist. The shots are so gorgeous, you’ll want to frame them and hang them on your wall. And the performances from the leading ladies are so magnetic, you’ll be sucked into their world of teen power games and friendship gone wrong. It’s a film that knows how to use silence to its advantage, and it’s so adept at restraint, it actually allows itself to breathe.
Production Company(ies)
Paranoid Pictures,
Distributor
Film Movement
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Belgrade, Serbia
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong bloody violence, gruesome images, and language
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 31m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 11, 2015 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 2, 2016
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Breathe, 2014, Drama, 1h 31m, starring Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Isabelle Carré, Claire Keim, Roxane Duran, Thomas Solivéres, directed by Mélanie Laurent, written by Julien Lambroschini, Mélanie Laurent, Julien Lambroschini, produced by Bruno Levy, reviewed by Alison Willmore, Kate Erbland, Michael O’Sullivan, Peter Keough, Mick LaSalle, Katie Walsh, Q.V Hough, Scott Nye, Angela L Harmon, Mattie Lucas, Courtney Howard, Charles Mudede, genre: Drama, box office performance: $42.3K, budget: N/A, MPAA rating: N/A, friendship, adolescence, power games, emotional annihilation, French film, Film Movement
Worldwide gross: $47,312,950
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $51,457,882
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,312
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,611,547
US/Canada gross: $32,712,950
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $35,578,824
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,216
US/Canada opening weekend: $10,622,473
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $11,553,073
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 911
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Lou de Laâge – Sarah
Isabelle Carré – Vanessa
Claire Keim – Laura
Roxane Duran – Victoire
Thomas Solivéres – Gastine
Director – Mélanie Laurent
Producer – Bruno Levy
Writers – Julien Lambroschini, Mélanie Laurent, Julien Lambroschini
Director(s)
Mélanie Laurent
Writer(s)
Julien Lambroschini, Mélanie Laurent, Julien Lambroschini
Producer(s)
Bruno Levy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 nomination
Academy Awards
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (4)
Breathe is a deftly observed look at teen power games and how closeness can turn to animosity in one miserable night out.
December 4, 2015
Alison Willmore
BuzzFeed News
TOP CRITIC
Laurent has an excellent eye for shot composition, and cinematographer Arnaud Potier’s crisp photography aids the director in creating an enviable set of gorgeous and memorable shots, and the film is consistently visually compelling.
October 16, 2015 | Rating: A-
Kate Erbland
Film School Rejects
TOP CRITIC
In some ways it plays like a horror movie, in other ways it’s almost a documentary.
October 15, 2015 | Rating: 2.5/4
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Nuanced, sensitive, and unflinching …
October 1, 2015 | Rating: 3/4
Peter Keough
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
These are extraordinary performances, and considering France’s way of nurturing female talent, Japy and de Laage could be at the dawn of 40-year careers. They’re that good.
September 30, 2015 | Rating: 3/4
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
The entire piece is precisely woven together, from script to performance to execution, and the result is a chilling study of emotional annihilation and its aftermath.
September 18, 2015
Katie Walsh
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
“‘Breathe’ works on various levels thanks to Arnaud Potier’s cinematography, Laurent’s polished direction and the magnetic charisma of the leads.”
June 28, 2022
Q.V. Hough
Vague Visages
Breathe, Melanie Laurent’s second feature, takes an external, incisive view of how small slights can create massive barriers between people…
January 15, 2021
Scott Nye
Battleship Pretension
Breathe is so adept at restraint, it even knows how to use silence to its advantage. It’s a film that actually allows itself to breathe.
December 11, 2019
Angela L. Harmon
Phindie
This is a painfully honest examination of young love and the sometimes predatory nature of friendship.
August 7, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
Infused with magnetic, dynamic performances from the leading ladies, this is breathtaking filmmaking.
August 23, 2018
Courtney Howard
AWFJ Women on Film
…about the surface of faces, the magic of motion, the qualities of light, and the possibilities of color. A film should always strive to be as wonderful as Breathe.
August 23, 2018
Charles Mudede
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)…
Plot
Charlie becomes friends with Sarah, but when Sarah tires of Charlie and looks for a new friend, their relationship takes an ominous turn in Breathe.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features magnetic and dynamic performances from the leading ladies.
Mélanie-Laurent.jpg
