Keep Breathing review: Another Netflix attempt at recycling the used and overused

Netflix's latest mini-series, Keep Breathing, premiered on July 28, 2022, with six under-40 minute episodes and a done-to-death premise that had little to offer and a lot to wonder about. Created by veterans Marin Gero and Brendan Gall, the series was surprisingly tedious but beautiful to look at, creating an odd contrast that was hard to comprehend.

Starring the brilliant Melissa Barrera as the protagonist Liv, the series followed her tale of survival after a plane crash left her stranded on a remote Canadian frontier. It is nearly impossible to talk about the solo-survival story without mentioning Showtime's Emmy-nominated drama Yellowjackets, except that it lacked everything that made Yellowjackets the brilliant fun fest it was. While there are good things about Keep Breathing, it is tough to look through the predictable plot.

Read on for a detailed review of Keep Breathing.

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Keep Breathing review: A classic survival story elevated and sunken by the twists

Apart from bringing up the comparison with Yellowjackets, it is also hard to talk about the series without giving spoilers, and that is not because the spoilers are the essence of the show but rather because you have already seen the twists multiple times in multiple mediums before.

The series introduces a substantially likable Melissa Barrera in the beginning and starts a promising journey of a woman trying to get to a remote town in northwestern Canada for reasons that are withheld from the viewers initially. Of course, this forms a major part of the story later. After her private plane crashes, Liv is left to fend for herself in the wilderness.

The story from here on follows the same old path of human will, as a woman with neither skills nor supplies manages to use objects and memories to figure out solutions to problems. From the second episode onwards, the story keeps shifting between Liv's survival attempts and her memories, which in a way, keep her alive.

Her attempts at survival make it clear that she has unaddressed issues that keep coming to the fore as the narrative progresses, and soon we are left with a story where the protagonist has to fight nature and her inner demons to come out unscathed (Where have I seen that before?).

The very predictable premise is lifted by a brilliant Melissa Barrera, who is such a compelling actor that despite predicting everything in the series, you are forced to sympathize and root for her. The cinematography is also excellent, exploring the wilderness with unmatched grace. These factors make the series very bearable, if not entirely enjoyable.

The worst thing about the series could be the number of times it came so close to crossing the boundary and becoming something exceptional. Keep Breathing often gave hope that it would be something bigger, better, and more unpredictable, but it dragged viewers back to the same old twists and progression. For instance, if the fifth episode just ended with Liv's resignation, then we'd have something unique.

The end of Keep Breathing could have ended before Liv drove into the river or while she was floating aimlessly into danger (or survival), but it kept going till the series was nothing but just another survival story with barely anything new to offer.

Keep Breathing is now streaming on Netflix.