L'ombra del passato

Back in the 90's. Where postpartum depression was rarely recognized, women who suffered from it often didn't get the help they need. Amanda Seyfried here played as Julie Davis, a woman with childhood trauma and postpartum depression. And even tough her husband was quite supporting, something still need to be face alone by herself in order to make peace with it.

This movie portrait the postpartum depression in a moderate gentle way. Viewers would sympathize with the protagonist and at the same time ask the question about how can we help women with postpartum depression and trauma. Oh, and don't forget to watch Paul Giamatti's refreshing cameo here.

Worth watching 8/10.

As "A Mouthful of Air" (2021 release; 106 min.) opens, we are introduced to Julie, a young mother who has a beautiful baby boy and an adoring husband. Yet something isn't quite alright as she seems to struggle taking care of the baby. Soon she spins out of control, and she has suicidal thoughts... At this point we are less than 10 min into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this film is truly a labor of love from Amy Koppelman, who adapts her novel of the same name into a movie. Koppelman is the movie's writer, producer and director (making her feature length debut). I haven't read the book so I can't comment how closely the film sticks to the book. Watching the film as a standalone, I was gripped from the beginning and it didn't take me long to be emotionally invested in the main characters. The movie benefits tremendously by the lead performance from Amanda Seyfried as Julie, in what is one of her best movie roles to date, period. Amy Irvin is a surprise (in the best possible way) as Julie's mom. Paul Giamatti also is quite good as Julie's doctor. The movie is plot-heavy so I can't really comment on how it all plays out. I will say this: this movie flew by in no time (for me anyway). Last but not least: kudos for the somber piano-fronted original score, courtesy of composer John Gürtler, whom I had not heard of before.

"A Mouthful of Air" was filmed 2 years ago and would've been released in 2020, but for a little thing called COVID-19. The movie finally was released in select theater this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at my art-house theater here in Cincinnati was not attended well: exactly 3 people (including myself). Regardless, if you are in the mood for a heavy-duty postpartum depression family drama featuring a powerful Amanda Seyfried, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (while you still can), on Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Good emotional movie with a stellar central performance from Amanda Seyfried. A great supporting cast with turns from Paul Giamatti & Amy Irving this film is only let down by a less than coherent story thread as it bounces between timelines for no apparent reason. Also found it weird that Britt Robertson turns up at the end of the movie in an important but non speaking role. It's very odd and makes me wonder whether they planned to do more with her and changed course at some point in production.

Hard to not like a Amanda Seyfried movie... she wins you over with her eyes. But I didn't care for this one. The subject matter is so important but I don't feel I learned anything new as the subject is being covered a lot. The movie has it's moments but for me... a downer!

This film is about mental health, postpartum depression. I love the way they directed the film. Instead of showing knife or bloody scene, they showed her facial expression to let us feel the pain. Such an emotional movie. Amanda did an amazing job portrait her character.