Warning: This article contains a discussion of anxiety, panic attacks, and ableist language.

Over the past several months, I’ve developed a real fondness for short films. Maybe it’s that they take a particular kind of skill to be successful with runtimes from 20 minutes to as short as five minutes. Maybe it’s just that, when done well, I can get the same degree of fulfillment without having to commit my limited energies to a 2-hour feature film.

Likely it’s both and Alex Goyette’s “Deep Breaths” is a great example of why. It’s a rare instance of a film where a quasi-paranormal element is actually used, in my opinion, effectively, as the vehicle for the depiction of mental illness.

Specifically, “Deep Breaths” digs into intense anxiety and panic attacks. I started off wary, horror and depictions of mental illness are rarely good friends but soon found myself drawn in. Between acting and visual cues, the film does an impressive job of capturing the slightly compulsive edge that, for me anyway, can and does come with anxiety.

Such as, the urge to pick directly at the things that make you anxious. The backward desire to ruminate and stew, instead of acting to resolve the manageable problems in front of you, and the way it leads to a kind of emotional freezing-in-headlights.

It felt real even while it wasn’t, facilitated by a striking performance from Devyn Labella (as Harper) and the unsettling stifling closeness of the film’s single set, namely the dimly-lit staircase in Harper’s house. Equally, the creature design is cleverly both alluring and repulsive, which rings true in some way to the “picking at scabs” behavior that can come with chronic anxiety too.

I really only have one criticism, though it’s a fairly significant one. There is a point where the “sinister voice” Harper hears uses the word “schizo” and while we’re meant to infer that this is a reflection of Harper’s internal monologue, it threw me out of the experience for a moment.

In sum though, “Deep Breaths” houses compelling acting, incisive directing and stage setting, and an intelligent script, all working together to create something that felt both honest and unsettling in the right ways. Short films, much as I’ve grown to appreciate them, can be very hit or miss. Despite one fairly significant stumble, this one is an overall hit, and I definitely recommend it.

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Deep Breaths

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Compelling Acting
• Great Set Design
• Clever Creature Design
• Intelligent Approach to Depicting Chronic Anxiety

Cons

• One Use of an Ableist Term That Could Have Been Left Out