And Breathe Normally

I watched And Breathe Normally at an airport while waiting for a flight. I was not aware the premise of this movie involves one lead character working in airport security. For everyone who walked by me at the airport, I have to presume that I just looked overly keen on air travel. Whoops.

And Breathe Normally takes place in Iceland. Single mother Lára is struggling to make ends meet for her and her son, Eldar. A minor miracle occurs when Lára ge accepted to train as airport border security. Early in her training, Lára flags the passport of a passenger. This passenger, Adja is fleeing from Guinea-Bissau to seek refuge in Toronto. But with her passport seized, she’s stuck in Iceland awaiting deportation. After a chance second meeting, Adja begins looking after Eldar for Lára. But forming a connection to Lára and Eldar doesn’t change the fact that the clock is ticking on Adja’s deportation back to Guinea-Bissau.

And Breathe Normally tackles issues of immigration and poverty. The film’s way of dealing with these contentious issues is to play them subtly. Especially with Adja’s story of illegal immigration, this is the right move. With immigration in particular, depictions and the debate around depictions gets pretty heated. And Breathe Normally doesn’t exaggerate or opt to tell a particularly dramatic story. This is very much a story of small individuals just trying their best.

If anything, the focus of the film is the mundane. Life is mundane. Even things like homelessness and deportation are mundane. We see lots of scenes of Lára going through the motions to keep her and her child afloat. Taking several samples at a grocery store, paying for food on several credit cards. It’s the same with Adja. Much of her story is about the bureaucracy regarding immigration. She gets a meeting then waits to hear the outcome. It’s all very impersonal to everyone except Adja. These massive challenges in these women’s lives don’t offer a chance for some sort dramatic scene. It’s about waking up every day and dealing with the mundane struggles of existence.

Lára and Adja connect over the course of the film. But an almost insurmountable amount distance remains throughout the film. There’s not enough time for the women to bond on a deep personal level. And some of their experiences are too different to share with one another. Yet despite this distance, both women support each other. Adja could’ve been just a name in a book at Lára’s job. But after her son demands that Lára offer Adja a ride, Lára can’t help but see Adja’s humanity. You don’t and shouldn’t need to know a person intimately to help them, to offer kindness. And because of the innocent world view of a child, Lára and Adja manage to form a connection that ultimately benefits them both.

Both Lára and Adja are queer. This is something these different women have in common. Still, their queer experiences are different. Lára has a one night stand with a woman at the start of the film. That’s the sum total of her queerness onscreen. Lára’s pretty busy with being a homeless mother to have time to do much besides this. We also learn that Adja is fleeing Guinea-Bissau because she is gay. Her experience with queerness is also muted, for similar but different reasons. She certain doesn’t have time to find a romance while awaiting deportation. Besides, she had a woman she loved in Guinea-Bissau. That woman was killed. For Adja, being openly gay carries a strong risk of danger with it.

The subtly of And Breathe Normally is impressive. There’s nuance, emotion and kindness in this cold and mundane universe. Though for people wanting a classic three act structure with a dramatic build-up and climax, you might find yourself wanting more. And Breathe Normally is about a very small amount of time where two women’s lives cross. And it changes things for both of them. Meanwhile, the rest of the world continues on, completely unaffected by their small story.

Overall rating: 6.8/10

Other WLW films in similar genres