Breathe

Breathe
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Breathe is a disturbing (subtitled) French 2014 drama about 17-year-olds struggling with and acting out over the weight of their parents' messy lives. One girl's father keeps leaving, and her mother keeps taking the dad back for make-up sex the girl can hear. Another lies to cover up her mother's debilitating alcoholism. She habitually mimics the alternating aggression and sweetness she experiences from her drunk mother, and that leads to painful relationships and, ultimately, tragedy. The high schoolers engage in bullying, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and also what would be underage drinking in the United States. (Wine and beer are legal for 16-year-olds in France.) Sex is discussed, and kissing is seen. A beach towel momentarily slips to reveal a breast and part of a behind. Profanity includes "s--t" and "f--k."
Community Reviews
Must watch for high school age kids
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What's the Story?
In Breathe, a 17-year-old French high schooler named Charlie (Josephine Japy) is a good student and a virgin when she befriends Sarah (Lou de Laage), a self-confident new girl at school whose mother is doing good works in Africa while Sarah lives with an aunt. That is the story Sarah tells, but as her behavior becomes meaner and more erratic, Charlie discovers a sadder truth. The girls become close, and soon the sexually precocious, drinking, smoking Sarah turns against Charlie. She bullies and humiliates the devastated Charlie, who is too hurt to confide in her mother, her friends, the school, or anyone about the cruelty and lies coming from the duplicitous Sarah. When Charlie learns that Sarah, in fact, lives with her mother, an impoverished and violent alcoholic, Charlie forgives Sarah and swears to keep the secret. Sarah, proving herself a sociopath, doesn't accept the forgiveness and mercy but instead attacks again, turning it all around on poor, naïve Charlie. The result is (spoiler alert) a fatal disaster.
Is It Any Good?
Performances in this well-made film are true and persuasive, and so is the incisive dialogue designed to show how an innocent can be led by her inexperience with evil to stoop to evil herself. A sense of impending doom threads throughout the action. The film seems overlong at times, but perhaps the lyrical pulse is designed to help set up the surprise of the disturbing ending. With lots of mature content, including bullying, sex, and drinking, this subtitled French drama is best for older teens and adults.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what a teenager can do when she is struggling with problematic friends. Might she tell her parents, her friends, her teachers? Why might someone in trouble decide not to seek help?
Do you think drinking might make difficult emotional situations worse and more difficult to handle? Why might that be? What are the consequences of drinking?
If parents are having trouble themselves, do you think their teenage children would be more or less likely to have problems? Why?
Movie Details
- In theaters: April 14, 2014
- On DVD or streaming: February 2, 2016
- Cast: Josephine Jaby, Lou de Laage, Isabelle Carre
- Director: Melanie Laurent
- Studio: Film Movement
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Friendship
- Run time: 91 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: December 6, 2022
Our Editors Recommend
For kids who love dramas
Themes & Topics
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