PLOT: In 1930s Oklahoma amid the region’s horrific dust storms, a woman is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family.
REVIEW: I always love it when horror uses a real-life backdrop for horrific events. I didn’t know much about the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma in the 1930s outside of its impact on crops and farmers. So to see it recontextualized as a man-made disaster brings a modern sensibility to this period piece. The dust storms bring both isolation and insanity as the lack of food and hope starts to take hold. Hold Your Breath is a bleak look at a very difficult time in American History. But it’s also a very stereotypical horror film about a woman’s descent into madness.
Hold Your Breath follows the Bellum family as they wait for their father to get return from his job out of state. Supplies have been whittled down and they’re using a sole cow for their sustenance. Each day is like a ticking time bomb, their lives coming closer and closer to the brink of starvation. The massive dust storms and lack of food result in hallucinations among the people. Will they get any reprieve or will the dust take them out completely? In the midst of this Margaret is having visions and her family grows more unsafe with each passing day.
Sarah Paulson‘s Margaret is a masterclass on how to have a realistic descent into madness. Subtle at first with a few physical twitches and sunken eyes, she becomes easy to root against as she loses more and more touch with reality. Annaleigh Ashford is a bit underutilized as Esther Smith. She essentially is a look into Margaret’s future but they don’t go far enough with it. I wanted Margaret to constantly see herself in Esther but instead, she’s just on the outside of the story and used for jump scares.
The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach is probably the most interesting character in the film, Wallace Grady. He claims to have been sent by Margaret’s husband but there’s something off about him. Ebon has an uncanny ability to reside entirely in a morally grey area, making his performance all the more interesting. Amiah Miller continues to impress, bringing such strength to the role of Rose. All she wants to do is protect her sister Ollie (Alona Jane Robbins), all while dealing with the threat of her own mother. Miller has a wise-beyond-her-years quality to her and she holds her own across from Paulson.
Most of the horror comes from a mysterious entity that Margaret claims will come for them. In reality, this is simply the sickness taking over, with her unable to differentiate fact from fiction. Then there’s the physical force of Wallace, who isn’t what he seems and gives us a brief physical antagonist. But I’d argue, that despite his wonderful performance, Wallace isn’t really needed for the story. If anything, it feels like the filmmakers not having enough faith that Margaret’s insanity would help carry the story forward, so they had to include this external threat. Thankfully, Moss-Bachrach is fantastic that more of him can never be a bad thing.
One really distracting element in Hold Your Breath is how CGI the dust looks. I know they had real dust on set but it’s being enhanced by CGI and ends up making everything look soft. I’m sure there’s a lot of great practical work beneath it, but it feels like a digital layer that refuses to interact with the actual real world. This is the kind of movie where it’s easy to appreciate the performances, but the story being so bland makes everything surrounding it so forgettable. I even struggled a bit with this review as the movie just seems to escape your mind the moment it’s over. So if you’re hoping this movie will be anything but forgettable: don’t hold your breath.
HOLD YOUR BREATH IS STREAMING ON HULU ON OCTOBER 3RD, 2024.