![breathe-B_01817_rgb (1).JPG Garfield and Foy build a sturdy foundation in Breathe](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/review-movie-breathe-garfield-foy.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Breathe, the directorial debut from actor Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes), may look like one of those fortifying triumph-over-adversity movies that you think you can skip. Not so fast: it’s really the kind of quiet, handsome romantic drama that everyone has forgotten how to make—or is afraid of trying to make. It’s also based on a true story. Andrew Garfield plays Robin Cavendish, a tea broker in 1950s England who’s stricken with polio at age 28. Paralyzed from the neck down, he’s unable to breathe without a ventilator. Yet Robin and his young wife Diana (Claire Foy), who’s pregnant when her husband falls ill, build a life together despite astonishing limitations. Cavendish would become a lifelong advocate for the disabled, and the film’s tone is at times overly reverential. But the actors carry the story ably. When Garfield’s bed ridden Robin sees his infant son for the first time, his smile is the kind that’s half made up of invisible tears. Sometimes happiness is so keen, it’s painful.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com