Their close bond, however, slowly becomes a hostile, sometimes violent one.

| Feb 13, 2024

The drama rises on the rich performances of its two leads ... Neither girl is unsympathetic, which makes the ending of Breathe as sad and as startling as it feels inevitable.

| Aug 14, 2022

"'Breathe' works on various levels thanks to Arnaud Potier's cinematography, Laurent's polished direction and the magnetic charisma of the leads."

| Jun 28, 2022

Breathe, Melanie Laurent's second feature, takes an external, incisive view of how small slights can create massive barriers between people...

| Jan 15, 2021

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.

| Dec 11, 2019

This is a painfully honest examination of young love and the sometimes predatory nature of friendship.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 7, 2019

Infused with magnetic, dynamic performances from the leading ladies, this is breathtaking filmmaking.

| Aug 23, 2018

...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.

| Aug 23, 2018

It is clear that the idea is to cause discomfort, and of course it generates it... But the approach advances more as the exhibition and demonstration of a case, of a pathology, than as a drama... [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 6.5/10 | Dec 12, 2017

There's a fine line between close friendships and toxic ones, and for teenage girls, there's perhaps an even finer one between sapphic love and best friends.

| Aug 14, 2017

Laurent has done her subjects great justice by capturing them at their most unadulterated.

| Jul 28, 2017

Subtitled teen drama with bullying, alcohol, and sex.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 19, 2016

The examination of the unknowable and undeniable power and pain of a broken friendship on display in Breathe is truly something to behold.

| Original Score: A- | Feb 21, 2016

A modest but keenly observed coming-of-age drama about an average suburban teenager.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 5, 2016

Breathe is a deftly observed look at teen power games and how closeness can turn to animosity in one miserable night out.

Full Review | Dec 4, 2015

With boys -- and men -- on the side, the females of the film anchor it with ease, once again proving that a good drama is dependent on everything except the actors' genders.

| Oct 23, 2015

Breathe offers ample evidence of the growing confidence and skill of Melanie Laurent as a director.

| Oct 19, 2015

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.

| Original Score: A- | Oct 16, 2015

In some ways it plays like a horror movie, in other ways it's almost a documentary.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 15, 2015

If you think the emotional volatility of adolescent female friendships is a uniquely American phenomenon, Mélanie Laurent's potent psychological drama is evidence to the contrary.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 5, 2015