Breathing Room
Accent Underground
R4 DVD
Breathing
Room is a thriller which has been clearly influenced by the Saw franchise and
other such films as Cube and Battle Royale. Since it has been made on a limited
budget, the emphasis is on psychological tension and suspense with solid
character development. While the violence shown is strong, it is used primarily
for shock value and not overemphasized and I think that this makes Breathing
Room more effective than other similar releases.
The
plot is fairly straight forward: Tonya (Ailsa Marshall, “The Gilmore Girls,”
“How I Met Your Mother”) awakens naked and disoriented in a warehouse with
thirteen strangers. She has an electric collar around her neck and is given a
numbered non-descript work uniform. On the wall is a sign reading,
"Congratulations! You have been selected! Prepare for the experience of a
lifetime!" followed by "Players must follow all the rules to avoid
penalty." The rules are rigidly enforced; it seems an earlier player has
been killed simply for forgetting to wash his hands and another play is electrocuted
for crossing a line marked “do not cross”.
All
fourteen of them are unwilling contestants in a competition from which only one
of them will survive alive. They have been drugged and kidnapped and none of
them have any memory of how they have arrived in the current environment. As
the game progresses each of them find various clues and objects which may be of
use. At times they are of limited value as they are incomplete, such
as half a key or a gun without bullets. Many
of the clues are cryptic and much be deciphered, others are anagrams. It seems
that many of them are simply important to turn one player against each other
and destabilize the group making them distrust each other even further.
As
the time comes close for the game to begin a figure appears on the screen and advises
the rules – only one of them can survive.
At
various intervals the room goes dark and someone ends up dead, it seems someone
among them is a killer. As the deaths mount up, the group turn against each
other. Using limited resources the film creates a strong mood of paranoia and fear,
the darkness of the room is shown in “red light” and this allows us to nearly
see what is occurring, but not quite, so we constantly second guess who is the
killer.
As
the game continues we learn there is a paedophile, rapist and murderer among
them and the psychological stress and interpersonal conflicts become just as
significant as the murders. There is also an interesting exploration of prejudicial
assumptions and some misdirection. It is
only right at the end when the sole survivor (who has actually been involved in
engineering the game) do you realize some of the real identities of the
players.
There
is a rather neat little anti climax when a new contestant joins and there is a
chance to escape. They team together and use the various items they have on
hand – hand, chisel, bullets, alcohol and a lighter to blow a wall apart, but
alas, there is still a further game afoot.
The
climax of the film is effective and the final revelation of the rapist and the
murderer while perhaps a little predictable still works.
The
acting is reasonable and while some of the characters are annoying and a little
stereotypical – the constant crying and neurosis of some of the female characters
seemed a little overdone, generally it worked. At times the limited budget
shows, especially in terms of props and the look of the building, it does not
distract from the effectiveness of the film. Breathing Room is really quite a
clever film which takes elements found in Saw, Cube and Battle Royale and mixes
them with a sort of twisted “Reality TV Show feel” to create a suspenseful
experience.
By
understanding the limitations of his budget and emphasizing mood, character
development and plot the director has been able to create a sense of tension
throughout the film. Surprisingly, this actually allows the murders to have a
much greater effect than in comparable films and this makes Breathing Room a
bit more innovative than one would expect. Breathing Room certainly has its
moments and succeeds as a taut little thriller.