Breathe is a small-scale post-apocalyptic thriller/sci-fi film that has a decent opening act but slowly slides off a cliff. It’s about the near future where all the oxygen has gone… somewhere <shrug>. All the plants are dead, most of the people are too, and the survivors are the lucky few with, I dunno, magic oxygen generators. In particular, the flick focuses on a family living in a survival bunker in NYC… when others show up and lay siege to the front door.

The most interesting thing about this low budget flick is the cast. It stars Jennifer Hudson, Common, Milla Jovovich, Sam Worthington, and a teenage Quvenzhané Wallis (from Beasts of the Southern Wild). That’s a pretty interesting cast of genre actors and singers with a surprising number of big budget films and Oscar noms under their belt.

Too bad some of them pull off very bad or inconsistent performances. Hudson and Wallis don’t feel like what I’d think post-apocalyptic survivors would act like. Others – like Sam Worthington – put in a wildly inconsistent and often bad performance.

On the other hand, Common brings his charismatic stoic-ness to the film while Milla Jovovich can play post-apocalyptic in her sleep at this point. She’s not an amazing actress but plug her into the right part, she’s fine.

Unfortunately, the script has major plot holes riddled throughout. Simple things like a survival bunker in NYC that has critical equipment on the roof, easy accessible by ladder. The guy who designed this place needed a real survivalist’s paranoia. Or there’s a way to access the bunker from the outside that the characters don’t think about until much later in the film. Not to mention oxygen cannisters with infinite reserve… except when the plot needs to limit them.

Between the wonky acting and the uneven plot and a very tedious, repetitive third act, I can’t recommend this film. It felt like I could at first and it’s kind of neat watching such a low budget big idea film with a cast that’s out-of-the-ordinary… but it just doesn’t work.

Score: 68