No one has ever questioned Sarah Paulson’s (Serenity; Ocean’s 8) ability to breathe life into something, and with her newest film, Hold Your Breath, this streak will continue as she is effortlessly brilliant in it and genuinely transforms the movie from a middle-of-the-road suspense thriller to something that will grip onto your soul and suffocate you until your last intake of air. What Karrie Crouse (Propagation; Into the Depths) and William Joines (Propagation; Into the Depths) manage to create between their shared direction and Crouse’s script is simply unmatched. With so much content and stories being out there today, to create something that holds the audience and leaves them in a world of suspense and disbelief is an amazing feat, and one that should not go unnoticed.
Sarah Paulson as Margaret Bellum in HOLD YOUR BREATH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
The movie takes place in 1930s Oklahoma during some of the worst dust storms ever seen at that point. This is not just a little dust spitting around, this is horrendous tornado-levels of dust; it is deadly and to be taken seriously. Margaret (Sarah Paulson) is left alone to deal with the storms and her two daughters, Rose and Ollie (Amiah Miller and Alona Jane Robbins, respectively), as her husband leaves to go to work and try and provide for his family. She is also trying to be good to her extended family and deal with her sister-in-law, Esther (Annaleigh Ashford) whose mental well-being has taken a toll and has sort of lost herself to the world of the dust, so to speak. While Margaret is trying to protect her family and provide, Rose tells Ollie a horrible story (something that sisters will do) about a mysterious presence, a being, that can turn into dust and wreck havoc. Of course, this is just a children’s fable — or so we think, until Wallace Grady (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) shows up mysteriously and the sanity of Margaret gets put into question.
Hold Your Breath is a gripping drama that works with or without its incredible cast, but the level of dedication, fear, suspicion, and brilliance that the entire cast, but mainly Paulson, Ashford (Bad Education), and Moss-Bachrach (Blow the Man Down), bring to the forefront creates the tension and atmosphere that transforms the movie from run-of-the-mill horror to one of the best of the year. Simply put, Hold Your Breath captivates the audience into a chokehold and never eases up, literally pinning the audience with intensity. Bringing some of the best of Hollywood to the forefront to create such a tense and uneasy world from the very tight and fleshed out script by Crouse is nothing short of brilliant.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Wallace Grady in HOLD YOUR BREATH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
While the script lends itself to the scares and suspense and Paulson delivers on all cylinders, it’s not enough to just have a lead that shines. The supporting cast is simply brilliant in Hold Your Breath, as well. Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the man who mysteriously appears claiming to be someone Margaret’s husband sent, is terrifying, calming, the epitome of a perfect antagonist. He never gives away the character’s motivations until we’re supposed to know, and he keeps the tottering line of whether the character is good or bad blurred, always. Annaleigh Ashford puts on her own transformative performance as the sister-in-law who cannot take the storms and pressure anymore. However, it is the two children, Amiah Miller (War for the Planet of the Apes) and Alona Jane Robbins, who bring all of this together, proving that they have the chops to hang with the best of the best.
Amiah Miller as Rose Bellum in HOLD YOUR BREATH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
Hold Your Breath is one of the best suspense thrillers of the year, full stop. It begs your full undivided attention, grabs a hold of you, and refuses to let go until it ends. As the credits roll, and only then, will you finally be able to catch your breath and not feel like you’ve been choked by the dust that surrounds you. Truly one of the hidden gems of the year that deserves an audience wide and large.
Screened during Toronto International Film Festival 2024.
Available on Hulu October 3rd, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Toronto International Film Festival 2024 Hold Your Breath webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
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