A haunting tale in the Dust Bowl: ‘Hold Your Breath’ review
A blend of gothic horror and American history
Hold Your Breath is a unique cinematic experience that merges the eerie confines of gothic horror with the harsh realities of the American Dust Bowl. Directed by the duo Karrie Crouse and Will Joines, this film ambitiously reaches for a multitude of sources to deliver its thrills and chills. While this approach results in a somewhat scattered narrative, the movie does have its strengths, particularly in its tense moments and its portrayal of paranoia surrounding sickness, reminiscent of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, the film’s most consistent strength is the committed performance by Sarah Paulson, whose return to horror is a welcome sight.
A desolate setting and a mother’s struggle
Set in 1933, Hold Your Breath transports viewers to the Oklahoma panhandle, a region plagued by severe dust storms. The story centers on Margaret (Sarah Paulson), who is left to care for her two daughters, Rose (Amiah Miller) and Ollie (Alona Jane Robbins), while her husband is away building bridges. The recent death of her third daughter casts a shadow over the family, and the omnipresent dust serves as a constant reminder of their loss. The film’s sickly, desaturated palette enhances this feeling of despair, with every frame filled with the dust that infiltrates their home and lives.
Crouse and Joines skillfully use point-of-view shots to capture the light shimmering off the dust particles, creating a sense of unease that lingers in the quiet moments. Paulson’s paranoid expressions further amplify this tension, making the audience feel the weight of the dust and the fear it brings.
The balance of silence and noise
While Hold Your Breath excels in its quiet, tense moments, it also relies heavily on sudden bursts of sound to unsettle the audience. The contrast between silence and noise is effective at first, with Margaret’s dreams of greenery being abruptly interrupted by storms and screams. However, this technique becomes repetitive and predictable, losing its impact over time.
The Grey Man and Margaret’s fears
As the film delves into the rural community’s safety rituals, such as tying twine ropes to their doors to navigate through blinding storms, Margaret’s daughters become engrossed in a storybook about a shadowy figure known as the Grey Man. This figure, who infiltrates homes like dust and compels people to commit terrible acts, mirrors Margaret’s own fears and struggles. The film subtly hints at Margaret’s health issues following her daughter’s death, including her reliance on pills to curb sleepwalking and dangerous behavior.
The Grey Man’s presence in the story represents Margaret’s anxieties about sickness and the unseen dangers in the air, drawing parallels to modern concerns about airborne illnesses. While the film’s narrative takes several detours, it eventually allows Paulson to fully embrace the shlocky horror elements, delivering a performance that is both captivating and unsettling.
A mysterious stranger and a supernatural twist
The plot thickens with the arrival of a stranger at Margaret’s home, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. This preacher, who claims to know her husband and possesses supernatural abilities, adds another layer of intrigue to the story. Moss-Bachrach’s character walks a fine line between comfort and suspicion, feeding into the girls’ fears about the Grey Man. However, this subplot feels somewhat disjointed, as if it belongs to a different movie altogether.
Despite the film’s swift pacing, it often feels like too little happens along the way. The narrative jumps from one premise to the next, struggling to maintain a cohesive storyline.
A mother’s battle against an unforgiving world
Ultimately, Hold Your Breath returns to its core narrative of a grieving mother trying to protect her children from an unforgiving world and from herself. The film’s most terrifying and intimate moments come to the forefront, but by this point, it lacks the momentum needed to deliver a truly impactful climax.
Hold Your Breath is a film that attempts to do too much, resulting in a scattered yet intriguing experience. Its strengths lie in its tense moments, the portrayal of paranoia, and Sarah Paulson’s compelling performance. While it may not fully achieve its ambitious goals, it offers a haunting glimpse into the struggles of a mother in the Dust Bowl era.
For more information and to watch the trailer, visit Hold Your Breath.
Keywords: Hold Your Breath, Sarah Paulson, gothic horror, Dust Bowl, paranoia, sickness, tense moments, supernatural, mother’s struggle, 1933 Oklahoma