Amanda Seyfried stars as a young mother suffering from postpartum depression in Amy Koppelman’s weepy adaptation of her novel.
A young mother battles postpartum depression in the arid melodrama “A Mouthful of Air.” Living in Manhattan in the ’90s, Julie (Amanda Seyfried) is a vision of bliss. Sunlight pours through the windows of her vibrantly colored apartment as she lays sprawled beside her cherubic infant son. But minutes later, the domestic idyll cracks when Julie settles on the floor to slit her wrists.
Directed by Amy Koppelman and based on her novel of the same name, “A Mouthful of Air” aspires to show how depression can sully even the loveliest of scenes. The scenes the movie chooses, however, play like a parody of white privilege: Julie and her husband Ethan (Finn Wittrock) are an affluent, affectionate couple whose greatest concern is whether they should relocate to Westchester. Julie’s pampered lifestyle is even such that, upon her suicide attempt, she is carried to an ambulance by her doting doorman.
In the months following her rehabilitation, Julie suffers ongoing anxiety. Grocery shopping is fraught with indecision over food brands, and later, a discussion about Julie’s second child spurs a panic attack over whether the baby will like her hair. Koppelman uses jump cuts, a hand-held camera and sound effects to sketch Julie’s distress, but absent a more penetrative window into her character, the movie’s portrait of depression often feels as facile as its opening image: Julie’s wide blue eyes with a single tear trailing down her cheek.
A Mouthful of Air
Rated R for language and inner turmoil. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
