Mikes Film Talk

Searchlight Pictures gives us a pretty surprising find on Hulu this october. Hold Your Breath may be the 2024 sleeper hit of the year. Writer/director Karrie Crouse, and co-director William Joines offer for our viewing pleasure, a quasi-historic horror film. Set in the dust bowl days of Oklahoma, we suffer through a number of things with the film’s protagonists.

The story

The Bellum family are split. Henry the husband has gone to work away from the dust covered farm. He leaves behind his wife, Margaret and daughters Ollie; the youngest and Rose the eldest.

All the women of this farming community are in the same boat. Husbands off looking for work and dust choking the life out of their crops and them. Margaret has trouble sleeping and dreams of choking.

Her trials are just beginning.

The main cast

Sarah Paulson is Margaret, mother to the two girls and she suffers from insomnia. This issue has caused problems in the past.

Amiah Miller is Rose. The eldest girl on the cusp of womanhood.

Alona Jane Robbins is Ollie. The youngest daughter who is deaf.

Annaleigh Ashford is Esther. Neighbour and, she says, family to the Bellum’s.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach is Wallace Grady, a healer; he says and lay preacher.

Arron Shiver is Sheriff Bell.

It works

Paulson, a personal favourite, pulls out all the stops here. She grabbed me from the first frame. Her character, all tortured with worry and concern about the invasive dust, is beyond compelling. Margaret has an almost furious character arc. I was practically wrung out by the end of the film.

All the main characters acquit themselves brilliantly. Miller is spot on as the conflicted teen trying to help. Robbins is delightful one moment and full of fear or angst the next.

Ashford as Esther equals Paulson for performance levels here. The two women play well off one another in the few scenes they have together.

Moss-Bachrach as Grady is disturbing from the very start. The actor manages to evoke an image of slithery evil. In essence, he makes a brilliant boogeyman.

Owing The Babadook

Australian horror gem The Babadook seems to have spawned this midwest dust bowl thriller/horror. Hold Your Breath is not a copy by any means but the plot device is not too dissimilar.

The Plots

The Babadook: A widowed mother struggles to deal with her son after the death of her husband and his father. They read a children’s book about a shadowy figure: The Babadook. Soon both of these isolated people are terrified of this fictional character.

Hold Your Breath: A mother isolated in the midwest while her husband works away from the area raises their two daughters. Rose shares a scary children’s story with Ollie. The youngster becomes frightened. Soon the entire family are afraid of “Mr. Grey.” A man who turns to ash and dust to enter your body.

More Similarities

Both women are suffering from mental issues. Not the least of which being intense stress. The two protagonists also start to show cracks in their demeanor.

Anachronism?

The device of the Mr. Grey story is an apparent anachronism here. The only references to a “Mr. Grey” printed story does not appear until 1946 and that is a ghost out east.

This could be a certain poetic license by the film’s creators based on the fictional Babadook tale in the Australian film. *If anyone knows the answer to the issue, as usual, answers on a postcard please.*

Dust storms are scary

I have been in a dust storm. They are overwhelming and scary. Unlike the ones pictured in Hold Your Breath they are a purplish dark hue that blots out the sun. They do indeed leave loads of dirt/dust everywhere and during the storm itself, one can get very disoriented.

This works for the film beautifully. The colours, all drab and humourless, highlight the sheer drudgery of the people’s day to day existence. Added to this mix is the introduction of “the grey man or Mr. Grey” and the tension becomes palpable.

The verdict

Somewhat amazingly, despite the intentional slow pacing, Hold Your Breath is a 4.5 out of 5 stars. There are bits that are genuinely scary and disturbing. Sometimes at the same time. This is a good picture for Halloween. Head on over to Hulu and check it out.

the trailer