Breathing Happy is a work of art and a force of nature of a film. I’m still kind of trying to process what I saw but I wanted to get a review out for it as soon as I could. I made that decision about halfway through the movie because it can make you laugh incredibly hard in one scene then make you weep in the next. I will also add this to the list of nontraditional Christmas movies that I love, it seems like it’s a growing trend.
Shane Brady knocked it out of the park as the writer/director of the movie. That is on top of being the star of the movie. The way he was able to blend everything he did in the movie made it have that extra hit. The cinematography and editing help the movie feel as trippy as it did.
The other performances in the movie are amplified by each other. June Carryl, Augie Duke, Brittney Escalante, and John D’Aquino all put in some powerful performances. The heavy subject matter is handled with surprising ease by everyone involved. There are also the cameos from people who I don’t want to even possibly spoil for anyone, because they’re so funny that I wouldn’t have thought it was them.
Breathing Happy is a powerful movie that touches on several things all while being wrapped in a psychedelic dressing. I wasn’t prepared to watch another movie that I would love as much as I have. This was yet another feature directorial debut that will hopefully lead to a long career. I give Breathing Happy 10 Christmas tree hats out of 10.