Oscar-nominee Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge) and Claire Foy (The Crown) lead the directorial feature debut from actor Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes), a period drama following a happy couple who look to overcome the trials ahead when one of them becomes disabled.
Handsome, adventurous and brilliant, Robin (Garfield) has his whole life ahead of him when he is paralysed by polio. Against all advice, Robin’s beautiful wife Diana (Foy) brings him home; where her devotion, intimacy and witty determination transcends his disability and sets him free. Together they refuse to be imprisoned by his suffering; transforming the lives of others with their humour, courage and lust for life.
"Be all you can be" isn’t just an inspirational training slogan, it’s a Hollywood biopic staple. Yes, it’s easy to be cynical about able-bodied actors in tragic Oscar-bait. Especially so when, in his directorial debut, Andy Serkis doesn’t so much pull at the heartstrings as attach a tow truck and hit accelerate. Set cynicism aside, though, and Breathe is a heart-warming melodrama, eschewing darkness and despair to focus on the life-affirming positive.
Full reviewIt's a plenty good story to tell, but even by the time the respirator takes its last gasp, I was ultimately unmoved.
Full reviewKeeps its eyes moist and its upper lip stiff to the last - but its sweeping inspirational gestures rarely reach all the way to the heart.
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While it's a given that [Andy] Serkis can wrangle the digital side, it bodes well for his upcoming Jungle Book that he can prioritise the internal on occasion.
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This exceptional life ... is smothered by a cloying fairy tale romance that turns every challenge the couple faces into a lark.
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Remarkably neither morbid nor depressing given its theme, Breathe brings a stale genre a breath of fresh air.
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Andy Serkis directs a brilliant Andrew Garfield in a flawed but moving take on the true story of Robin Cavendish, who defied polio to make a better life for himself and others like him.
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William Nicholson's script is a stiff-upper-lip ode with spice notes of plucky humour, but lacking a messy intelligence.
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Its noble intentions [are] hobbled by a trite script, flat characters and a relentlessly saccharine tone that eventually starts to grate.
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