June 2, 2025

🎬 Movie Review: Breathe (2014) – When Friendship Turns to Obsession
Starring Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge
Directed by Mélanie Laurent

“It started with a glance. It ended with silence.”

Breathe is not just a film — it’s a slow exhale of beauty, pain, and psychological unraveling. In her haunting directorial debut, Mélanie Laurent crafts an intimate portrait of teenage friendship that morphs into something far more suffocating. Tender and terrifying, poetic yet razor-sharp, Breathe is an emotional time bomb — and we feel every second ticking down.

Joséphine Japy shines as Charlie, a quiet, introspective girl who longs to be seen. When the radiant and enigmatic Sarah (played with magnetic intensity by Lou de Laâge) transfers to her school, Charlie is drawn into her orbit like a moth to a flame. Their bond is instantaneous — electric, euphoric, all-consuming.

But as the connection deepens, it darkens. Sarah’s charm begins to fracture. Her affection turns to manipulation, her confidence to cruelty. What begins as admiration twists into possession, and Charlie, once uplifted, is quietly dismantled from within.

Laurent’s direction is achingly delicate — handheld shots, golden light, and lingering silences all pull us into Charlie’s inner world. We feel her joy. We feel her confusion. And when the spiral begins, we can’t look away.

The film never screams. It whispers — with glances, with pauses, with small betrayals that hurt more than violence. The final act is devastatingly quiet and impossibly loud all at once. When the credits roll, you’re left breathless — and that’s exactly the point.

Final Verdict:
Breathe is a masterclass in emotional storytelling. A tale of adolescence, loneliness, and the dangerous hunger to be loved — no matter the cost.
It’s about friendship. It’s about obsession. And it’s about the moment love turns into a weapon.