A Breath Away (2018) Poster


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The Fog outside
kosmasp3 November 2020
It started off as a drama and then went full thriller on me. Since I had not read what I was about to see (it has a cool sounding title doesn't it?) on Prime, I was quite surprised, because I thought this was going to a diffeerent direction. No matter if you are as weird as me and don't read up on the movies you're about to watch or come prepared, the movie is really gripping.

Tension is high throughout, even in moments when I think, that wasn't too clever now was it, the movie still holds a grip on me. And the characters try and do their best considering the situation they find themselves in. Certain things may be a bit too neatly tied up (like the old couple), but overall this would be nitpicking. Just enjoy the thrill and keep guessing where this heads next ... no pun intended
Just one thng bothered me...
searchanddestroy-113 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Oh, this is Nothing, but only tiny little detail. IF anyone can help me by commenting this masterpiece and explaining me...When the couple is attacked by the dog in the street, the supposed contamined street by the lethal gas, how the hell the dog could live, breathe, run after them whilst in the same time any one died: humans and even animals? HOW? But besides this, I can only say that that's the first French disaster movie ever, at least on that scale. No problem.
MadamWarden12 March 2020
This as really cool movie. Actually a great metaphor for the Coronavirus that is beginning to take over the world right now.

So many great ideas terrifically executed with some really great acting and non Hollywood action. Loved it!

A few crazy plot flaws but honestly don't impact the movie much but dropped my rating slightly. 😉
Hazey Days!
spookyrat15 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I admire ambitious film makers, an example of which would have to be Dans la Brume director, Canadian Daniel Roby. He has crafted a very well made, fast-paced low to medium budget science-fiction film where he has clearly got value for money for every dollar spent, as well as securing collectively fine performances from his small cast. He also takes on an intriguingly big story, but cleverly plays it out against a backdrop of limited characters, operating in a relatively confined environment. It's just a pity that in achieving a brisk tempo, the movie appears to have neglected to have provided some much needed exposition to flesh out the lightly-sketched lead characters and avoid frequent inconsistencies in the storyline.

Mathieu (Romain Duris) and Anna (Olga Kurylenko) are desperately trying to save themselves and their daughter from a deadly toxic gas/fog that has engulfed Paris, which has been hit by an earthquake. The mysterious, heavier than air gas, only rises to a certain height, enabling those lucky enough to escape to the rooftops of the city to survive. Mathieu and Anna must seek safe passage through the fog if they have any hope of saving their hyper-allergic daughter Sarah, whose safe, hermitically sealed chamber below requires constant recharging of its batteries to successfully continue to carry on its life-saving function.

Visually the film is a treat with frequent, almost incongruously attractive panoramas of the domestic Parisian skyline, being steadily inundated by the ever-creeping fog. Meanwhile the after effects of the fog's arrival in the immediate vicinity of the family's apartment block are rendered realistically harrowing.

To ensure Sarah's survival, Mathieu and Anna decide to, both individually and together, make various excursions from the temporary safety of their elderly neighbours' top floor apartment, to different locations to collect resources needed to allow both the safety chamber to keep operating and also allow Sarah to likely leave the chamber. Though filled with ample, edge of the seat suspense, this is where the film's problems lie.

Mathieu and Anna are backgrounded so lightly, that it's almost amazing we can see them on the screen. Anna is some kind of scientist. Mathieu is may be a lawyer? They are married, though perhaps estranged at the film's beginning. And that's about it. There is precious little information for the audience to relate to. Yet oddly, the script lets us know far more about their helpful and concerned neighbours. Then we are forced to contend with plot inconsistencies, which many might more cruelly label as "holes".

Birds and dogs are seen to be affected by the mist, yet another dog proves to be a threat, which the two parents end up evading in almost comically silly fashion.

From the beginning we are aware Mathieu owns a perfectly good motorcycle parked in their basement garage, which he/they never utilise, even though we understand speed of movement to different nearby locations is vital. Confoundingly, the couple choose to walk everywhere until right near the end!

Conflictingly again, though the importance of acquiring extra oxygen bottles and hazmat suits is stressed, several very obvious times through the movie, opportunities to gain extra of those precious resources aren't taken, leaving viewers scratching their heads wondering why.

A short-wave radio is restored to working order in the first half of the film ... and then never referred to again. In fact we are never given any information whatsoever as to the extent of the disaster, nor whether other countries have been affected, or whether they are offering assistance, despite us seeing a couple of helicopters flying around.

And in an effort to provide a twist conclusion, more questions are raised about just how badly the disaster has affected the environment and whether or not, its effects have been overcome.

In spite of these failings in narrative I liked Dans la Brume because Roby succeeds in making this apocalyptic thriller feels far bigger in scope than it really is. It's well shot, tightly wound, and expertly paced to generally keep you engrossed in the journey and the talented cast give their all, even when limited by script deficiencies.
Cohesive, touching and mostly cerebal catastropic sci fi - "atmospheric" in every sense...
jrarichards27 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
If you believe - as I do - that any film (even in the sci fi genre) should stick to its beliefs and have its characters doing what they have to do or need to do sensibly enough at all times, at best just occasionally helped by realistic-enough quirks of fate, then Daniel Roby's "Dans la brume" is for you.

Associated with a cataclysm that arises here in a Paris setting (but potentially/presumably also everywhere), the core suspension of disbelief is going to be a pretty big one; but if you can get past that, then "you're in", as it were. And there's not a wasted minute in this taut film, so though there are just 89 of them altogether, you'll definitely find you've had a worthwhile, if not a little "claustrophic" experience.

Minimalistic as the approach is, there are hints of epics like "On the Beach", as key characters accept their inevitable fates, while others struggle on to the last. In either case, this film does surprisingly (and movingly) well in its lionisation of ties of family and marriage - notably those of Mathieu and Anna (Romain Duris and Olga Kurylenko), as well as the old couple that take them in and offer unstinting support and comfort in any way they can. In the latter context, Michel Robin as Lucien offers a simply fine performance quite evocative of characters in films of the Kieslowski genre. We are lucky to get elements of this class in a sci fi/disaster movie, but get them we do, and it's super.

The fact that there is a touch of optimism in the twist in the tale (unlike in "On the Beach") does no harm at all, and those who suggest implausibility here should recall that this is sci fi, and that does denote a core idea that, if perhaps a tad fantastic, IS indeed meaningful, thought-proving (and not a little stunning), as the genre always should be.

The main pairing leaves the odd question mark - these are clearly very capable people (perhaps a touch too much), in a slightly enigmatic marital setting, but they won't give up on each other, or above all on daughter Sarah (Fantine Harduin). Again, a film about people who couldn't cope at all would obviously have little mileage in it...

A few other characters appear in the midst of the chaos and growing loss of life, and do their bit - at times chillingly. But in each case it's vignettes that tell the story, without much in the way of special effects (except the one main one that proves quite effective enough).

And it's all absolutely good enough to offer a compelling and thought-provoking film experience that doesn't waste our time in any way at all, and does by the way (in a slight echo of a film like "Signs") give succour to any who think that things that happen in our world are - in spite of everything - "meant to be".
Para ser francesa, me sorprende pero no del todo. To be French, I'm surprised but not at all
Andres-Camara25 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
¿A qué me refiero? El cine francés es muy de guion, solo de guion y obvia todo lo demás. Esta es una película de ciencia ficción y eso es raro en su cine. Como es ciencia ficción, parece que hay que dejar todo sin cerrar y no explicar, solo la intriga y ver qué pasa tienen que ser suficientes, pero aunque para mí no es así, es que además le faltan las dos.

Lo han preparado todo para hacer una película interesante, pero no lo terminan de hacer, lo dejan a medias, no lo culminan y ese es el fallo

Las interpretaciones son mediocres, no es que veas una maravilla.

La iluminación, vital en este tipo de historias, se queda a medias. No la usan bien, por lo tanto no te metes en la historia.

Si la apoyas con planos bonitos e interesantes mejor, pero en ese caso, tampoco lo hace. La cámara observa desde fuera. No te aburres, pero a mí, al menos, me deja un poco a medias.

Los efectos están muy bien eso sí. Pero aun así, me iría a otras películas.

What do I mean? French cinema is very scripted, just a script and obvious everything else. This is a science fiction movie and that's weird in his movies. As it is science fiction, it seems that you have to leave everything without closing and not explain, just the intrigue and see what happens have to be enough, but although for me it is not like that, it also lacks both.

They have prepared everything to make an interesting movie, but they do not finish it, they leave it half-finished, they do not finish it and that is the fault

The interpretations are mediocre, it is not that you see a wonder.

The lighting, vital in this kind of stories, is half-hearted. They do not use it well, so you do not get into the story.

If you support it with nice and interesting shots better, but in that case, it does not either. The camera observes from outside. You do not get bored, but at least it leaves me a little half-hearted.

The effects are fine, yes. But even so, I would go to other movies
Wasted potential?
latinfineart20 July 2021
A good story. A good premise. Decent characters, who we don't really get to know.

Not much of a resolution. Other than the old couple, who are great, not much to hang your hat onto.
Could have been a great film
OMTR25 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A great movie until the last quarter of an hour; when suddenly writers leave audiences wishing for something to watch. Too bad, because we believe in it for a long time, looking forward to the outcome that would have been the perfect opportunity to deliver a powerful environmental message.
Fresh and original concept which is executed well
Paynebyname8 January 2020
I really enjoyed this little gem when I stumbled onto it.

It was a fresh concept that got straight into the action, it showcased characters through their exploits rather than having some clumsy method of character building but most refreshing was that the two main protagonists were clever and quick thinking. There wasn't the usual 'why in god's name would they do that' stupidity or similar frustrations. Just decent robust characters trying to figure stuff out.

Okay, the set up did telegraph the ending a little but I found the film thoroughly entertaining and if you like well made 'survival' films then this is defo worh checking out
Good and worth watching
child_of_Orion30 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Reminds me of Under the Dome: some unexplained event happens and people die, but just it stays unexplained for the viewer. The idea of how those who can survive and those who can not because of being in need of a special switch places after the event is original.

I don't think you'll waste your time watching it. And the ambiance is European, so what makes it pleasant and different to watch. It's just not a "wow" one.
Hopelessly confused.
pp31211 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Did anyone get the ending? I'm totally confused--I have no idea what the hell happened. The guy's riding a moped down the street filled with deadly gas, a kid without a mask runs into his path and he crashes. Next thing his daughter, who was in a bubble, appears with her boyfriend, both unmasked, and suddenly everyone can breath again. Why? Next thing the daughter's running through a field. Last thing he's back in the apartment. The End. Eh? Apart from all that, where the hell did the gas come from? Why didn't the wind disperse it? Or did he dream the whole thing? Did I dream the whole thing? I want my two hours back again please.
So so
h_ghaffari15 February 2021
The movie begins with an exciting and unusual accident . Audiences expect something strange happens like monsters and gaint creatures and so on. But we see a logic vision entire the movie. the storyline is vague. Why that happens? the smoke. where is it from? the story focuse on family ties and how the want to save their lives. I expect more unusul things. Anyway, That is not a bad movie. a middle-range movie movie. 6 out of 10 is good for the movie.
Good atmosphere, and that's it
thausilveira13 October 2018
The idea was good, the atmosphere is fantastic, and that's it.

Some of the dumbest characters I've ever seen in the movies and a weak ending. Come on!
Two years later a very timely movie
visionaforethought26 June 2020
If you're reading this mid Covid crisis, watch this. It's almost as if the writers knew what was about to happen two years later (2020). I don't want to say anything more to avoid spoilers. But very well made and acted. Tough to watch if you're sensitive.

(Caught it on Amazon Prime BTW, and just thought I would give it a whirl. Glad I did.)
So predictable
falbpe5 August 2020
That movie was so predictable. Before 15 minutes I already imagined the end; but the worst thing is that in the meantime nothing really interesting happened. And the acting... They are in the end of the world, and nobody cries or despair; but they seem to be possessed by a cyborg. French films are almost always good, but this one belong to the worsts that I have seen, only surpassed by that of the man in a wheelchair and the black man, or that of the person who wakes up and is paralyzed throughout the film. Soporific and dumb. So many movies about confinements the last two years... Better watch Nosferatu of Herzog if you want to see how is a real plague.
Great possibilities...wasted!
dallorens42619 May 2019
This movie started out as a great idea good actors could've been an outstanding movie the story is a great premise but the movie simply had no organization nothing is explained and it doesn't even lead one to make any conclusions at all. Running around with two oxygen tanks that seem to last way longer than realistic.
A very good film
ink2quill22 November 2018
This is a very good film that avoids all the trite elements of a sci-fi or survivalist story. The characters are sensible and likeable and the story is really good. Check this gem out folks. You won´t regret it.

A slow intimate buildup with outstanding actors & story.
junglered-691-68298015 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
They had a Romain Duris film festival here on SBS World Movies recently, so I became very well acquainted with this extremely versatile actor. From conman to hustler, from cross-dresser to loving father, Romain's films are well woth seeing. I watched this with no knowledge of the plot, so it crept up on me. A family finds themselves in their neighbors flat in an upper level Paris apartment, just above a deathly fog that has overtaken the city. They have an invalid daughter below in their flat, who for now is safe in her 'bubble' as long as the battery holds out. This is about a real group of people, and their struggle to survive. They are completely cut off from the world, except for an old battery radio. I don't usually like catastrophe films, but this one was excellent, touching and moving, as well as engrossing.
I liked it in spite of the mistakes
mattheba8322 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed watching this movie.

What I liked:
  • amazing effects, the smoke looks spectacular but still normal
  • the view of Paris is so great
  • the idea is interesting
  • Olga <3 is such an amazing woman
  • a girl living in a bubble makes me wonder in itself
  • parents only care about their kid's well being like in real life
  • chill european mood, not too much Hollywood hyper-action hysteria

What I didn't like:
  • Why is one adult dog alive another dead?
  • So are the kids and the puppy safe from the mist and the adults aren't, or are the sick safe and the healthy arent? Because that was messed up.
  • There was another "safe suit" on the shelf... Why didn't the husband put it on? Their life was on risk, they would have taken it with themselves actually immediately they saw it.
  • Another suit on the street... Let's leave it there too! Why would they need it when there's no oxygen in the air.
  • The girl's mum dies and the girl still feels quite ok, with no serious crying, mental and emotional breakdown. Her character in the end acts like someone who's bad day finally is over.
  • What happened to the dead body on the stairs?! The kids just live with it now like a nice couple? Well kids can be cruel I guess:D
Hahaha:D But however I really enjoyed watching this movie, the mist looks awesome and the mood was quite easy.
A small budget story of a big budget idea
Saint_Pauley4 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A family of three is trapped in the upper floors of their building by a poisonous fog that has settled over Paris. Sadly, of all the stories that could be told from this situation, the one they've chosen is no doubt the least interesting. I'd be more interested in the masses atop Montmartre or the group stranded in the towers of Notre Dame, but that's not they tale we're told. Instead, we get a small budget story of a big budget idea.
It had so much potential....
rnohf21 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Watch it and judge for yourself. There are some very worrying plot holes. The ending negates the entire storyline. Having said that, the acting is very good and touching, especially from Mr Fraggle Rock. Special effects are satisfactory. There are worse movies around.
A Great Movie Looms Out Of The Fog!
padrecole15 February 2021
Rarely nowadays are we treated to a slow-burn disaster Sci-Fi movie that manages to get the pace & character mix just right. So, you keep invested in the story line whilst also buying into the characters. OK, it is not without its flaws, but no film is! Yet this manages to sustain interest and excitement to the final twist which I thought was very clever.

If you are a Marvel comic fan who likes lots of unreal action, fight scenes and special effects, then this is probably not the film for you. One misguided reviewer likened it to 'The Mist' and this fanciful reference could not be more wrong. This is clever, new and well conceived with some stretch of the imagination, to be sure, but is well acted and directed. Highly recommended.
Weird ending
kazerniel30 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The ending kinda shot the movie in the foot. Nothing was really explained. We just got to see how a few people coped with a natural catastrophe. But the lack of actual wrap-up left me quite dissatisfied. (How much of the world was affected? Preteens will run the country/planet now? Iirc they said third of Paris's adult population has died, but it seemed more like 99%. Why didn't the wind disperse the fog for days?)

Another weird thing was the dog that chased them through the city. Ok, let's say it's young enough that it's not affected by the gas. But still... family dogs don't behave like that, practically hunting down people over long distances. It wasn't protecting its territory, it wasn't starved, it had no reason to behave in such an unnatural way other than plot convenience.

Also it was weird that they didn't just get in a car and get the f--k out of there. Even if the roads were blocked by other cars there must have been smaller streets and such that they could have used to get around.

Aside of the above plot malfunctions, the atmosphere (haha) and emotional tension worked really well, and the visuals were pretty good. The child actress was mostly terrible, but sadly child actors usually are.
Can somebody explain me the end
foreverjeff27 December 2020
I wasted 1:40 of my life, Some scenes are too dumb, Why the dog is alive?
Good Concept but needs to dive deeper into characters, story lacks depth.
gordonho-751-81251619 April 2020
I think the idea and concept is good but without spoiling the movie too much, here's my take ( I am writing this fresh after watching )

By the middle it was VERY predictable what might happen. They tried to build on the main characters and for us to feel for them, but I hardly felt any emotions, the buildup simply wasn't strong enough.

On the issue of selfishness + selflessness, other survival based movies have touched on this Heaps better. District 9, Train to Busan etc. just to name a few off my head.

I like the idea of a dangerous fog over Paris, the trailer was very captivating, as was the first half of the movie, then it goes wayside very quickly.

in all I would say it was a wasted opportunity. There was a great missed potential here. It centers only on so few characters yet I do not feel much for them, and at the end of the movie, you are left with no answers to the greater whole .. good Concept, but too shallow

5.5/10 at best for me.
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