Mehmet (Hakan Karsak) and his mother try to bring a sense of normalcy while managing an Anatolian farm. The two manage the heavy stuff like trying to figure out which of their cows are pregnant or just full of milk. They also take care of his four children like second oldest Esme (Defne Zeynep Enci).
They fix stuff that they break, but after her sickness, he’s doing it alone, like taking them to swim in the river. Eventually though, she starts feeling the same sickness as her grandmother, unable to play with her siblings. All of this is taking place while chemicals are burning around them and giving their community diseases that affect mostly girls and women.
As We Breathe isn’t a film for everyone – after all, a film where characters desperately hold onto normalcy may not have conventional pacing. At least it starts out with banger images, a dream sequence of Esme outside without a mask. Or a scene where a chemical plant traps Mehmet and his coworkers in dangerous parts of the workplace. Most of the film though is ‘normal’.
As We Breathe, as most films are, are a good showcase for the director’s technical talents. Here, director Seyhmus Altun turns his movie into capturing landscapes that do seem innocent. But eventually, he shows billowing smoke and fires inching towards Esme and her farming family. Esme is a girl with responsibilities that become more difficult to accomplish as time progresses.
Image Credit: Courtesy of TIFF
- Rated: Unrated
- Genre: Drama
- Release Date: 9/7/2025
- Directed by: Seyhmus Altun
- Starring: Defne Zeynep Enci, Hakan Karsak
