Andy Serkis directorial debut with Andrew Garfield lands prime Oscar release

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The Oscar season is probably going to be pretty crowded this year with the release of plenty of biopics, soapy dramas and high-quality thrillers, to the point where each movie is going have to be sensational in order to break through. That task just got much harder now, as one film just entered the race that has “Oscar contender” written all over it. Seriously…on every side, angle and crack.

Variety got the scoop that the upcoming drama, BREATHE, just got a prime Oscar release date of October 13, and will expand to more locations throughout the fall. The film starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy is about Robin Cavendish (Garfield), who after becoming paralyzed from the neck down travels the world as an advocate for the disabled. With the help of friend Teddy Hall (Hugh Bonneville) the two invent a wheelchair with a respirator, giving him better movement.

The great Andy Serkis makes his directorial debut here before he unveils his own JUNGLE BOOK movie, and William Nicholson (GLADIATOR) wrote the script, with Robert Richardson (AVIATOR, HUGO) handling the cinematography.

The movie checks off all the boxes for an Oscar caliber movie, including the love story, triumph-over-disability angle, and a presumably bravo leading performance from a leading man, who was also nominated this year for HACKSAW RIDGE. The story sounds a little sappy, but in terms of awards it worked for 2014’s THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, which nabbed Eddie Redmayne a trophy. A sense a storm coming, and the forecast reads "showers of gold."

I’m mostly interested in this movie to see how Serkis does as a director. As a great actor he has the capacity to be a great director, and could easily guide his actors to award-worthy performances.  He’s got a great crew behind him too, so it will be difficult for this movie to not live up to the hype.

BREATHE opens on October 13.