‘Hold Your Breath’ aims to explore the quiet terror of isolation and madness, but much like the dust storms that sweep through its 1930s Oklahoma setting, it ultimately feels more like a force of nature that never fully materializes.
Directors Karrie Crouse and Will Joines capture the desolate beauty of the Dust Bowl with stunning visuals, but the film often struggles to find its footing as it oscillates between supernatural horror and psychological drama.
Sarah Paulson’s performance is unquestionably the film’s saving grace. As Margaret Bellum, a mother left to fend for her children in a bleak and deteriorating world, Paulson embodies both the quiet resolve and fraying mental state of a woman slowly being undone by grief, fear, and isolation.
Her performance taps into the timeless horror of losing one’s grip on reality, and it’s in these moments where the film feels most grounded, even as dust clouds swirl and strange figures loom .
Unfortunately, Hold Your Breath never fully capitalizes on its potential. The film’s pacing feels sluggish, and its refusal to anchor the viewer in a coherent narrative begins to feel more like a lack of direction than a creative choice.
The tension builds without payoff, and scenes that could have been emotionally devastating or terrifying fall flat as the script veers into predictable jump scares and vague metaphors .
There are moments when the film hints at something deeper — the idea of a mother’s desperation driving her to the brink of madness is fertile ground for horror. Yet these moments are fleeting, buried under layers of ambiguity and a plot that seems unsure of where to go next.
The result is a film that feels simultaneously overstuffed and underdeveloped, a series of haunting images in search of a story to tell .
‘Hold Your Breath’ doesn’t quite manage to hold the audience’s attention. It’s a film with striking moments and a standout lead performance, but much like the dust that permeates its world, it eventually settles, leaving little behind but a faint memory of what could have been.
