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Hold Your Breath
Directed by
Will Joines
and
Karrie Crouse
R
2024
1h 34m
Drama
,
Horror
,
and more
5.3
40%
48%
Add to Watchlist
In 1930s Oklahoma amid the region's horrific dust storms, a woman is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family.
More
Where to Watch Hold Your Breath
Hulu
Subscription
Cast of Hold Your Breath
Sarah Paulson
Margaret Bellum
Amiah Miller
Rose Bellum
Annaleigh Ashford
Esther Smith
Alona Jane Robbins
Ollie Bellum
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Wallace Grady
Arron Shiver
Sheriff Bell
Bill Heck
Henry Bellum
Frances Lee McCain
Bertha Bell
Courtney Cunningham
Birdie Mae Bell
James Healy Jr.
Dr. Cox
Nathan Gariety
Thomas Smith
Ethan Woodall
Jacob Smith
Hannah Mosqueda
Janie
Emily Katherine Ford
Ada (uncredited)
Hold Your Breath Ratings & Reviews
jackmeat
October 15, 2024
My quick rating - 5.4/10. This flick transports us to 1930s Oklahoma with an atmospheric take on the Dust Bowl era, nailing the period's look and feel. The aesthetic of the film is immersive, from the worn-out, dust-covered landscapes to the haunting isolation of life in a small, wind-battered home. The cinematography is strong, offering moments of striking imagery, especially during the dust storms, though I wish these storms had been used more effectively to drive tension and amplify the film's claustrophobic potential. Sarah Paulson shines as Margaret, a young mother grappling with grief and paranoia, giving a performance that carries the film through its slower parts. She expertly conveys Margaret’s internal battle, making her journey compelling even when the pace drags. Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Wallace also deserves a nod as his eerie portrayal adds a much-needed layer of tension, his character's ominous presence felt throughout. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast feels more like set dressing, failing to leave much of an impression. The film tries to lean into folk horror with a slow-burn, gothic approach, but it doesn't quite press hard enough on the horror elements to truly unsettle. The creeping dread is there, but it often fizzles out before reaching a satisfying payoff. The premise of a mysterious force lurking in the storms is promising, but the story never fully capitalizes on it. While the atmosphere works, the pacing struggles to maintain momentum, and the horror feels underutilized, leaving the film caught between a period drama and a horror movie without fully delivering on either. If the tension of the dust storms and the fear of the unknown had been explored more deeply, this flick could have been a standout. In the end, it's a well-shot film with strong performances from its leads, but it misses the mark of delivering enough fear or urgency to keep you holding your breath (I had to do it).
TheWrap
Chase Hutchinson
Even as Paulson is putting her all into the film and can firmly grab hold of you at some moments as her strong-willed matriarch comes undone, much like the dust that is floating around the confined setting, it all slips through her fingers.
Observer
Oliver Jones
Sarah Paulson shines in this horror thriller set in 1930s Oklahoma. But the movie's compendium of tired horror tropes does not.
Variety
Siddhant Adlakha
The film often does too much, reaching for too many different sources for its attempted thrills and chills, which results in a mostly scattered experience.
MovieFreak.com
Sara Michelle Fetters
Directors Karrie Crouse and William Joines have constructed a bleakly sparse Western where true horror is found in the emptiness of living one's day-to-day life on the isolated extremes.
San Jose Mercury News
Randy Myers
"Hold Your Breath" taps into a national mood of paranoia and escalating anxiety and that makes it all the more chilling, all the more relevant.
The Daily Beast
Nick Schager
In a genre overly taken as of late with "elevated" trauma scares, its gritty, skillful menace is a breath of fresh air.
RogerEbert.com
Brian Tallerico
A sequence of powerful scenes that aren't tied together with enough tension to make us care. It's a film filled with moments but no momentum.
Third Coast Review
Steven Prokopy
There comes a point in Hold Your Breath in which even Margaret's children begin to wonder if the scary shapes in the dust are real or if their mother is imagining them.
AV Club
Natalia Keogan
Elements of psychological, supernatural, and survival horror are incorporated, yet never coalesce into a cohesive story, despite the film boasting a strong central performance and a commitment to historical detail.
LA Weekly/Village Voice
Asher Luberto
Where the movie goes wrong is that it doesn't build to anything interesting.
Assignment X
Abbie Bernstein
The scenes between Paulson and Ashford as sisters, trading between who is steady and who is weakening, are especially engrossing.
Cinemalogue
Todd Jorgenson
A richly textured performance by Sarah Paulson anchors this slow-burning thriller that lacks a compelling story to match its ominous atmosphere.
What She Said
Anne Brodie
the Oklahoma Dust Bowl crisis devastated lives, property and hope and changed the ecology of the prairies. The tension of the constant storms wears deeply, as it would have a hundredfold for those who lived it. a twist on the thriller genre.
Decider
John Serba
Hold Your Breath blends the stuff of paranoid thrillers, supernatural horror and domestic drama into a reasonably effective mashup.
Newsday
Robert Levin
It's a fine example of slow-burn and character-driven horror storytelling.
Your Movies (cleveland.com)
John Urbancich
The effects crew provides so much realism you might be hearing the wind in your ears and, perhaps, tasting the dust in your mouth for hours after viewing.
Film Obsessive
Tina Kakadelis
Hold Your Breath is a perfect entry to the sleepover genre. It's spookier than the offerings of some other streaming services (like the Netflix Fear Street trilogy), but likely won't be responsible for any nightmares.
Common Sense Media
JK Sooja
This film, despite its strong cast, seems to struggle with feeling like it needs to stay true to the historical accuracy of 1933 Oklahoma.
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
Paulson's performance is masterful, but she needs better material to work with.
Watch Hold Your Breath Videos
Hold Your Breath
Hold Your Breath
Trailer
Hold It Together
Hold It Together
Behind the Scenes
Hold Your Breath (Teaser Featurette)
Hold Your Breath (Teaser Featurette)
Behind the Scenes
Dust
Dust
Scene
Lucky
Lucky
Scene
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