OXYGEN. Can we not catch our breath either?

A woman wakes up in a cryogenic chamber. She doesn’t remember how she got there or why. At first, she doesn’t even know her name, but thanks to interaction with an artificial intelligence system, she soon learns that her name is Liz. The situation is far from ideal. She’s quickly running out of oxygen, and there’s no one around who could release her from the chamber. Elizabeth embarks on a race against time—one in which losing is not an option. This is the setup for the plot of Oxygen. While Liz’s (Mélanie Laurent) main goal is survival, at some point, the mystery of how she ended up there and what her past is becomes just as important. Her history is shrouded in mystery from the beginning.

Despite regularly recurring flashbacks—stylized in the typical manner of retrospective storytelling—these glimpses from (presumably) her life only provide clues, and the true solution to the mystery won’t come until the final act. Naturally, there are a few twists and turns along the way, some more surprising than others, but the most important thing is that we become invested in the fate of the protagonist placed in this terrifying situation. And that’s where the problem lies. Oxygen is built on a similar structural premise as Alexandre Aja’s previous film, Crawl. Again, the action takes place in a confined space from which the protagonist desperately tries to escape, human relationships are key (in Crawl, it was a father-daughter dynamic; here, romantic feelings take center stage), and the plot leads to an almost cathartic finale that demands incredible ingenuity from the main character. But the devil is in the details. In Crawl, Haley (played by Kaya Scodelario) would find a solution only to fall into even greater peril, constantly pushing the characters forward—even when the obstacle was just a few meters away.

In Oxygen, there is only one physical barrier, so the narrative technique had to shift. Screenwriter Christie LeBlanc transferred the focus to the mystery of Liz’s origin and identity. As a result, the major milestones in her escape attempt are not about pushing the physical limits of the human body, but rather about making phone calls to various people outside and deducing information based on their words. This worked in the film Locke, because from the beginning we knew who the main character was and what his motivations were—so the conversations he had were emotional confrontations, not mysteries in and of themselves.

Here, just like Liz, we don’t know who she is, so the driving force of the plot is curiosity rather than emotional attachment to the character. This leads to another issue: the love story between Liz and a certain man, which becomes a key subplot later in the film, is presented mostly through exposition, so we’re asked to believe in it at face value. And we do believe it, because Aja is a skilled storyteller and manages to convince us. But again—what’s missing is emotional engagement. The issues I’ve raised primarily concern the script, which I believe is the production’s biggest weakness. When it comes to execution, however, I have no complaints. Everything is done as it should be. The sense of claustrophobia is well preserved, the director uses a few symbolic shots (such as a camera pulling away into darkness) and some unexpected rat-related jump scares, and at one point we’re even treated to beautiful panoramic views.

The true star of the film, though, is Mélanie Laurent. Viewers may remember her from Inglourious Basterds, where she was very convincing, but here she shows the full range of her talent. For nearly the entire film, we focus on her face, which transitions through dozens of emotional states—often extreme—as we watch her journey from despair to exhaustion, and even brief moments of madness. It’s both a very physical and very emotional performance.

It’s difficult to discuss the themes explored in Oxygen without entering spoiler territory, so I’ll stick to generalities. Identity is a key thread here—what makes us who we are, how important our past is in the context of our future, and whether our origin should determine our fate. Later in the film, the protagonist’s confinement in a restricted space mirrors our own domestic confinement more than it might initially seem. Contrary to appearances, it’s a surprisingly timely film, even if it uses certain motifs as a framework for its sci-fi shell. Oxygen is a well-crafted, slightly over 90-minute unraveling of a mystery, centered around a brilliantly acted protagonist who is practically the sole focus of the film. The elements that didn’t quite work for me stem from the film’s foundational choices, so if you’re not put off after reading this review, you’ll likely still enjoy it. Just prepare more for a psychological drama with a ticking clock than a throat-grabbing thriller. In the end, the most important thing is discovering the truth about oneself—only then can you truly breathe.