A mouthful of air

Awards contender?

I liked A Mouthful of Air, too—I found it "good." The film is sentimental, and for most of the movie, it seems that—while engrossing—the sentimentality will blunt the edginess lurking in the material. But a minimalistic flash-forwarding device periodically recurs, creating unease and ultimately quite an impact (as the film flashes back to its climax). In other words, while A Mouthful of Air is sentimental, it does not run from its fatalism. 

Additionally, A Mouthful of Air forces the viewer to think and imagine by never fully revealing the visual details of its most upsetting scenes. In that sense, there is an old-timey sense of discretion that really works. And while there is not that much to the movie in terms of visual composition, that is acceptable here because A Mouthful of Air is largely psychological and about the protagonist's internal life. And although composition is not a strength, A Mouthful of Air does not use closeups oppressively, like the otherwise commendable Southside with You (2016), about the Obamas' "first date." And the mise en scène in this movie is impressive due its use of color and artwork—the painted walls of a corridor, the painting on that corridor, the children's drawings that the main character (played by Amanda Seyfried) illustrates. 

What makes the film, perhaps, is the fact that Amy Koppelman both wrote the script and produced and directed the movie (her first as a producer and director). She realized her own vision, and that sense of clarity and surefootedness comes through. The movie is gentle and sentimental, but indeed, it makes an undeniable impact.