Hold Your Breath joins the trend of horror films like A Quiet Place and Bird Box with how it plays up the terror of one of the five senses. Those two films dealt with hearing and sight, respectively, while Hold Your Breath deals with taste and smell. This movie from directors Karrie Crouse and Will Joines follows a mom, Margaret Bellum (Sarah Paulson), and her two kids, Rose (Amiah Miller) and Ollie (Alona Jane Robbins) in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl.
The Bellum family home was once filled with crops, but a surge of dust storms terrorizes the small town of mainly women and kids. While most of the men have gone away to build a bridge for the city, the remaining civilians board up their homes to avoid any dust slipping in. A folktale about the Grey Man scares the family as it speaks about a shadowy figure who can travel through the air. Once his victims inhale him, he can force them to do anything — even kill.
This psychological horror-thriller doesn’t offer anything new to the genre, but the performances from Paulson and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will give audiences goosebumps. While Paulson easily slips back into familiar territory, Moss-Bachrach’s performance will surely surprise fans.
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The opening scene of Hold Your Breath immediately displays how powerful and scary the dust storms are. It’s revealed that Margaret and her husband had a third daughter who passed away due to an illness caused by the level of dust in the air. The film effectively takes the time to show just how scared Margaret is when she sees dust by zooming in on it floating in the air and cutting back to her uneasy face. A majority of the horror elements during Hold Your Breath are reduced to the trope of silence, followed by a loud sound to jolt audiences. This works well at the beginning of the film, but it’s annoyingly repeated every so often that it loses its effectiveness.
On the other hand, the tone of Hold Your Breath succeeds when it questions reality and delves into the supernatural elements. After initially doubting the Grey Man’s existence, rumors swirl around the town about a drifter who sneaks into people’s homes and kills them. Not long after hearing this, a strange man, Wallace Grady (Moss-Bachrach), sneaks into the Bellum home for safety from the storms. The audience experiences what the family goes through as they question whether he’s trustworthy. But just as this storyline gets interesting, it’s brushed off like dust. It’s difficult to stay invested as the narrative introduces too many moving parts at once without taking the time to fully flesh out what it wants to say.
The ‘Hold Your Breath’ Cast Is a Refreshing Source of Oxygen
Best known for his role as Richie in The Bear, Moss-Bachrach plays a completely different type of character in Hold Your Breath. Wallace is a preacher who seemingly can heal people and make the rain come down during the Dust Bowl. His introduction is when the film thrives in its unsettling tone.
With his abilities, Margaret (and the viewers) begin to question if something as supernatural as the Grey Man could also exist. Moss-Bachrach’s stellar performance effectively haunts the rest of the film, but audiences will crave more from him. After showcasing his range as an actor in this movie, it’ll be interesting to see what he brings to the role of Ben Grimm/The Thing in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Miller and Robbins give emotional performances as Margaret’s daughters, which helps the family feel more compelling to root for. Casting a Deaf actor like Robbins as one of the daughters is not only great for representation, it adds to the horror elements of the film. With Paulson’s experience in the American Horror Story franchise along with other thriller projects, she carries a big majority of the film on her back. As Margaret descends into madness trying to protect her daughters, Paulson’s performance becomes more unsettling. The film’s climax is when Moss-Bachrach, Paulson, Miller, and Robbins’ captivating work pays off to deliver an emotional ending.
‘Hold Your Breath’ Coughs Up a Decent Thriller
Hold Your Breath struggles with the type of story it’s trying to tell. While the ending is an emotional payoff, it would’ve had a bigger impact if the film didn’t flip between different plot points that ultimately didn’t amount to much. However, the film’s overall message about the lengths a mother will go to keep her children safe works as well as it could.
Although Paulson holds up the weight of the film, it doesn’t work without Moss-Bachrach, Miller, and Robbins carrying some of the load. Hold Your Breath doesn’t live up to the caliber of films like A Quiet Place or Bird Box, but some horror elements will effectively send a chill down the viewer’s spine. After the dust blows through, you can sweep Hold Your Breath under the rug.
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'Hold Your Breath' Review | TIFF 2024
'Hold Your Breath' Review | TIFF 2024The Good
- The cast performances hold the weight of this film.
- The question of what is real and what isn't is handled well.
The Bad
- The movie relies too much on the same horror tropes.
- Too many storylines are introduced that don't add value by the end of the film.
