Charlie is 17 and introverted. She watches her parents’ tempestuous relationship, and spends her time between school and her childhood friends, within the rhythm of a small town. Until the day a new pupil arrives. Sarah is beautiful, bold, ribald, rebellious and immediately designates Charlie as her new best friend. A passionate relationship develops between the two teenagers, in turn radiant and Machiavellian, which turns Charlie’s life upside down.

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Loosely adapted from Anne-Sophie Brasme’s novel, the second movie by actress Mélanie Laurent stirs up a number of contradictory but gripping emotions. First there is the disagreeable sensation of watching an all-too obvious story about a poisoned friendship, a TV movie bogged down by often less-than-subtle writing. Then a fascinating alchemy occurs between Joséphine Japy and Lou de Laâge, who manage to give the movie a real intensity. And that is the power of Mélanie Laurent’s movie, which, in the wake of the great surprise that was Les Adoptés, abandons flamboyant direction for a more natural approach – at the risk of quickly becoming very ordinary and impersonal. In every sense, Breathe has a beautiful and fragile sensitivity, as well as a good eye for directing these two actresses.