Hold Your Breath stars Sarah Paulson as a young mother in 1930’s Oklahoma. Haunted by her troubled past, she becomes convinced that a mysterious presence in the dust storms are threatening her family, resulting in her taking extreme measures to protect them. I’ve been looking forward to this since I first heard about it. I really enjoyed the last Sarah Paulson starring Hulu movie, Run. With it also being around spooky season, I was even more intrigued. Now that I have seen it thanks to this being my very first digital screener as part of the critics union, I am able to present this review to you much sooner and help you get an idea as to what to expect when it releases on Hulu on October 3rd.

The film is directed by two different people – Karrie Crouse & Will Joines. While it’s clear where both excel at delivering tone, it can also work against the film. I think it’s fair to get this out of the way, because while I really enjoyed the more intense, suspenseful scenes, the drastic changes in tone can really mess with the plot. Needless to say, it’s not what I was expecting of the film, and I think it would be fair for me to say for those to temper expectations before watching it.

Sarah Paulson has made a clear case as to why she is one of the best working actresses working today. She makes it look so effortless, and she happens to save this film. There’s a part of me that wishes she could take on bigger movies than this. The plot centers around her being a “young mother” even though Paulson is almost 50 in real-life. There’s no problem with that, but I think that’s where the film gets the plot and tone wrong (more on that later).

As for the supporting cast, it’s great to have Ebon Moss-Bachrach in this. He’s not given much to do, but when he is on screen, his menacing presence if felt through and through. I wish we got more of him, but I think that also speaks to just how good he is in the film. Then, there is Amiah Miller, who plays as one of Paulson’s character’s daughters. Like Paulson, Miller makes it look effortless. I was truly blown away by how much emotion she put into her character, and I’d be interested to see what she does next in her career.

Now that we’ve tacked the cast, I am going to elaborate on the plot and tone. With the plot, making it seem like Paulson is a young mother goes against the believability of the story. I was always waiting for some big reveal about her being a mother, but we never quite got it. While Paulson is great, the truth is that she is beyond this. I think it would have been far better to have a younger, less-known actress in the lead role to help with the realism of the story.

Then, there is the tone. The horror aspects work really well in the film’s favor. I wouldn’t be surprised if one director focused more on the horror, while the other focused more on the drama. With such a small cast, I can’t think of any other reason as to why this film needed two directors. The horror is one of the film’s strengths. Whether it’s at day time or at night time, the scares and tone were perfect. As for the drama, the tone can be almost goofy and lifeless.

The story within the drama is one of the weakest points of the film. I went in expecting one thing out of the story. Instead, I got multiple things out of it. Without any spoilers, there’s an additional plotline that helps get the movie going that I wasn’t expecting. It certainly capitalized on the film’s core themes of life & motherhood; however, the way it got there makes the film goes in way too many directions that can often make the plot more convoluted than it needs to be. The ending also didn’t really know how to wrap itself up properly and will either make viewers appreciate the themes it is trying to convey or roll their eyes in disbelief.

The other weak point of the film is the editing. I haven’t seen editing this bad in a long time. Scenes will automatically jump to characters teleporting to different locations. I couldn’t tell if it was just me at first, but then it kept happening. It’s quite clear the film not only struggled with keeping continuinity, but also keeping track of the flow of camera shots.

Overall, Hold Your Breath does enough to make it worth watching. I can’t guarantee it will be for everyone. I actually think this will have a very polarizing response when it comes to Hulu. It’s not at all the horror movie it tries to be. Between the performances and the horror, you can do much, much worse.

VERDICT: 3/5 (Good)