Breathe (Mélanie Laurent, 2014): France

Reviewed by Vanessa Garnreiter. Viewed at AFIFest 2014.

A young girl called Charlié seems like a good girl from France. She has to live with her parents who are fighting constantly. The mother keeps crying and is very depressed. One day a new girl , Sarah, comes into Charlié’s class and they start hanging out. Their friendship grows and Charlié leaves her other friends behind to spent time with Sarah. As the girls, Charlié’s mother and friends drive to the seaside for the weekend the girls get into a fight. Sarah plays the dominant in their relationship and manipulates the nice Charlié. After the weekend Charlié finds out that Sarah was lying about her past. She claimed she came from Africa and her mother is still there. However her mother is an alcoholic and Sarah is frigthend by her. As a result of that Charlié trys to tell her that she will help her but won’t tell anyone that she knows. Sarah threatens to kill her and tops hanging out with Charlié.

Manipulation and bullying can destroy a person and can lead to be able to do things they normally would never do. When is it enough for Charlié? That night when Sarah comes to Charlié’s house and tells her she got hit by her mother, something happens nobody would have thought. Sarah claims she has only Charli+e to talk about her mother but she is happy they are no friends anymore. She tells her how she used he and that she was the worst friend ever. Charlié can’t take the insults anymore and throws her head to the drawer. Sarah starts bleeding but laughs. This is the end for Chalié – she only sees Sarah still playing with her. Charlié takes her breath away by choking her to death with a pillow.

Charlié was so insecure about herself she was not able to just drop Sarah as a friend. In my opinion this movie shows how friendship can completely change a person and make you do things nobody would have thought.