Breath (2014) - Melanie Laurent

Charlie, a seventeen-year-old french girl, lives in a fractured household.  Focusing out the relentless arguments and threats of violence between her dad and mom, Charlie focuses on her studies, being one of the top students in her class.  One day in a school, Charlie and the class are introduced to Sarah, a new student.  Self-confident and attractive, Sarah quickly introduces herself to Charlie, with the two quickly becoming inseparable.  As the two grow closer, Charlie begins to feel that Sarah isn't being entirely open about her situation, which soon creates an explosive rift in their friendship.  Melanie Laurent's Breathe is a psychological teenage drama which takes a close look at the volatile state of adolescent emotion.  Impressively crafted, Reprise dissects two adolescent characters in Charlie and Sara, each having their own emotional strife that combined creates a perfect story of melodrama.  For Charlie, the more introverted type, her relationship with Sarah gives her the feeling of invincibility, almost as if she feels alive for the first time.  Sarah's character is an extroverted person due to emotional strife by her very troubled drunkard mother, a fact she hides from everyone she knows, that is until Charlie finds out.  Breathe uses these two characters to take what appears to be a sensitive teenage drama and subvert expectations, doing so in a way that intentionally or not speaks to the consequences of bullying, capturing the fragility and explosiveness of teenage emotion.  

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