DVD review (region 2)
Directed by John Suits, Gabriel Cowan
Starring Ailsa Marshall, David Higlen, Brad Culver, Kim Estes
Release date 25 August 2008

A woman wakes up in a locked room with a number of other seemingly ordinary people, with no memory of how they got there. They must follow the rules of a game as they attempt to win their lives and their freedom...

Breathing Room reaches 19 minutes before it emits the much-overused line, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” If anything, it’s a little late, as anyone with a penchant for horror will have thought the same long before that. The problem is there’s nothing new on show: Cube, Saw et al have taken the idea of kidnapped folk taking part in twisty-turny murderous gameplaying to great heights, and the same levels are never reached here.

At its worst the film comes off like an acting class, staffed with players drawn from the kind of extras agency that specialises in ‘interesting-looking’ people. There aren’t even any knowing in-jokes to wink at a savvy audience – in a room full of numbered uniforms it must have been tempting to make the blonde girl Number Six as a nod to sci-fi fans.

The extras are also a major disappointment. Clearly made on a budget and shot almost entirely in a single room with a cast of newcomers, this is crying out for the kind of intimate behind-the-scenes docs or bitterly truthful commentary most Hollywood films can’t offer. As it is we’re handed a trailer...

For all that, the script by writer/directors John Suits and Gabriel Cowan offers the odd surprise to keep us on our toes, as well as some interesting use of Lost-style character backstory. The female lead Ailsa Marshall also dithers nicely between strength and vulnerability, all of which combines to paper over some of the cracks in this room. Matt Chapman

VERDICT: 5/10
It’s Lost in a box! But the odd firm twist and a strong turn by Marshall can’t lift this above a run-of-the-mill thriller.