Popular reviews

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  Review by Anna ★★★★½ 3

  remember when i thought this was going to be a cute little indie film about teenage gays...

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  Review by Taz ★★★★★ 2

  I hope all those crusty old white male directors know that Mélanie Laurent is coming for them

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  Review by Lucy ★★★★½

  it's scary how accurately this captures the intensity and insanity of relationships between young girls. i hate how much i related to this.

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  Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★★ 11

  I feel like there have been at least a half dozen films released over the past year that are strongly connected to the darkest and most melancholic corners of my personal life.

  Jesus christ, this was heavy.

  It contains what is 1) probably the best NYE party scene I've ever watched in a movie (if you ever found fun.'s music to be actually fun, you certainly won't after watching Respire).

  2) a few of the most unforgettable
  tracking shots since the mid-80s.

  3) one of the most frustratingly disturbed characters I've experienced in a film for a long time, as well as one of the most selfless (at least, for so long).

  Couldn't possibly recommend this film more highly,
  especially if you're a fan of what I like to call "real cinema."
  Respire is just so real.
  But be prepared to feel like absolute shit afterward.

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 3

  Melanie Laurent directs the ungodly *shit* out of this shrewd study of teenage insecurities and psychosexual violence. like BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR but better, more fun, and half as long. and has a long-take for the ages.

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  Review by ✿ eli ✿ ★★★★ 8

  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.
  I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE GAY.

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  Review by jasmine 🍂 ★★★★½

  im_supposed_to_feel_sorry_for_that_bitch__i_dont.gif

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  Review by Kurdt ★★★★½ 6

  There's a scene early in Respire (the better title in my opinion) where a teacher explains to his class that passion comes from the gut. Not the head, not the heart, but deep inside you. He also discusses with the students about how too much passion can be excessive and dangerous. Around this time is when Charlie and new student Sarah become close friends, constantly hanging out together. The film carries a welcoming, warm glow at this point, a gentle orange hum as it looks like it's going to examine the close friendship between the two. Charlie reveals she's actually a virgin, and a few scenes later the two kiss during a tipsy, role-playing late night. Charlie seems to question…

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  Review by Kairit ★★★★★

  hell is a teenage girl

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★

  holy hell mélanie laurent. where did this come from? ruthless depiction of teenage social systems and the weaponization of friendship that moves between warm and cutting in an instant and somehow manages to shade an otherwise obvious narrative with unexpectedly truthful pain and ambiguity. ending shouldn't work at all but i was floored. excellent co-lead performances too.

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  Review by Lucy ★★★★★

  THIS MOVIE WANTS ME DEAD

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  Review by 🎃 lindsay 🎃 ★★★★½ 6

  This film is ruthless and it hurts. Abusive friendships aren’t often depicted well but Breathe showed the true terror of these kind of toxic friendships. It’s more than cattiness, it’s more than bullying. There’s a feeling of being trapped and suffocated and all you want to do is please them and it’s never enough.

  Friends like this know how to look directly into your insecurities and weaponize them against you until you don’t feel like you’re you anymore. You shrink down and down and try not to be seen. You try everything you can to earn them back.

  Melanie Laurent did a beautiful job directing this. There were moments where the way she uses the camera really puts you into…