This October, Searchlight Pictures brought us a very surprising discovery on Hulu. hold your breath Could be a huge hit of 2024. Writer-director Karlie Krauss and co-director William Jonis bring us a quasi-historical horror film. Set during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma, we experience a lot with the film’s protagonists.
story
The Bellham family is divided. Husband Henry has left the dusty farm to go to work. He is survived by his wife Margaret and daughters Ollie; the youngest and Rose the eldest.
All women in this farming community are in the same boat. Husbands go out in search of work, and the dust suffocates their crops and their lives. Margaret had trouble sleeping and often dreamed of suffocation.
Her ordeal has just begun.
main cast
Sarah Paulson plays Margaret, a mother of two girls who suffers from insomnia. This issue has caused problems in the past.
Amiah Miller plays Rose. The eldest daughter who is coming of age.
Alona Jane Robbins stars as Ollie. The youngest daughter is deaf-mute.
Annaleigh Ashford plays Esther. She said they were neighbors and family members of the Bellum family.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach stars as Wallace Grady, a therapist; he says, and a lay preacher.
Aaron Schiffer plays Sheriff Bell.
it works
Paulson is my personal favorite and he pulled out all the stops here. She grabbed me from the first frame. Her character is filled with worry and worry about invasive dust that is irresistible. Margaret’s character is almost angry. I was almost exhausted by the end of the movie.
All the main characters give great performances. Miller aptly plays a conflicted teen trying to help. Robbins was happy one moment and filled with fear or anxiety the next.
Ashford’s performance as Esther here is on par with Paulson’s. The two women work well off each other in the few scenes they have.
Moss-Bachrach’s Grady is unsettling from the start. The actor successfully portrays a cunning and evil figure. At his core, he’s an excellent monster.
Owe the Babadook
Australian horror gem The Babadook seems to have spawned this Midwestern Dust Bowl thriller/horror. hold your breath It’s not a copy by any means, but the plot design isn’t that different.
plot
The Babadook: A widowed mother struggles to cope with her son after the deaths of her husband and father. They read a children’s book about shadow figures: The Babadook. Soon, both isolated men are terrified of this fictional character.
hold your breath: A mother is isolated in the Midwest while her husband works outside the region, raising two daughters. Rose shares a scary children’s story with Ollie. Young people become afraid. Soon the whole family was afraid of “Mr.” gray. The man who turned into dust and entered your body.
More similarities
Both women suffered from mental problems. Not the least of which is intense pressure. Cracks also began to appear in the words and deeds of the two protagonists.
Out of place?
The technique of Mr. Gray’s story is decidedly anachronistic here. The only mention of “Mr.” The printed story of “The Gray” didn’t appear until 1946, and that was Ghosts from the East.
This may be some kind of poetic license taken by the film’s creators based on the fictional Babadook story in Australian cinema. *If anyone knows the answer to the question, please write the answer on a postcard as usual.
Sandstorms are terrible
I’ve been through dust storms. They are overwhelming and terrifying. Different from the one in the picture hold your breath They are purple-black in color and block sunlight. They do leave a lot of dirt/dust everywhere and one can feel very disoriented during a storm.
This works really well for this movie. The colors are drab and boring, highlighting the drudgery of daily life. Add to this the introduction of “The Gray Man or Mr. Gray” and the tension becomes palpable.
Judgment
Somewhat surprisingly, despite the deliberately slow pace, hold your breath 4.5 stars out of 5. Some of the sequences are truly terrifying and disturbing. Sometimes simultaneously. This is a great photo for Halloween. Head over to Hulu and check it out.
trailer
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