Breathe In is a 2013 American romantic drama film co-written with Ben York Jones and directed by Drake Doremus, starring Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, and Amy Ryan. It follows a high school music teacher who has an affair with a foreign exchange student from England who is his daughter's age, stemming from his disillusion with life and their shared love of music. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013, the director's third film to play there.
Plot
Keith Reynolds is a high school music teacher married to Megan and living in a small town an hour and half from New York City. He gave up a career as a musician following the arrival of their daughter. Lauren is very nearly 18 and is a champion swimmer. In his spare time, he substitutes for a cello player in an orchestra and is applying for a permanent role. Keith finds his life frustrating, resents his job as a teacher, and his wife's dismissal of his music playing. He wants to move back to the city and work as a musician, but his wife Megan refuses to consider this as she disliked the uncertainty of the income and the lifestyle.
The family is to host a foreign exchange student from England, Sophie, for one semester. When Sophie arrives, she is disappointed by the distance from Manhattan which she wanted to visit. Sophie's mother died when she was very young and she was raised by her uncle and aunt. Her uncle introduced her to the piano but has recently died, affecting Sophie badly. Sophie tells her aunt that she is not practicing her music because she does not know who she is playing for anymore.
Sophie reveals to Keith that she is an accomplished musician and they bond over their mutual interest. While they are alone at the house, she tells Keith about the death of her uncle and that she wants to choose to play music. Sophie is unsure and has lost her purpose following her uncle's death, so she does not play. Keith has chosen not to play for the sake of his family.
Keith and Sophie embark on a love affair, spending time together talking about running away together. Lauren discovers this and reveals her knowledge to Sophie by attacking her while she is asleep in bed. Sophie panics after Lauren's attack and tells Keith she must leave. Keith tells her he will run away with her. They plan to meet in New York City after a performance, packing their things.
Lauren, angry at her father and having been spurned by Aaron, gets drunk and crashes her car. Meanwhile, Megan discovers Keith and Sophie's affair and their plan to run away. While she is smashing things around the house in anger, she gets a call telling her Lauren is hurt and in hospital.
Following his performance, Keith meets up with Sophie. They load their things in the car and are smiling at each other in happiness. Suddenly Keith receives a text message from Megan telling him that something has happened to Lauren. He appears at the hospital where Megan tells him she does not know how Lauren is.
The film ends with the family having a photo shoot. Lauren is fine but has a scar near her eye. Keith has decided to return to his wife and Sophie has gone.
Cast
Guy Pearce as Keith Reynolds
Felicity Jones as Sophie
Amy Ryan as Megan Reynolds
Mackenzie Davis as Lauren Reynolds
Ben Shenkman as Sheldon
Alexandra Wentworth as Wendy Sebeck
Hugo Becker as Clément
Brendan Dooling as Ryan
Kyle MacLachlan as Peter Sebeck
Lucy Davenport as Sophie's mom
Jenny Anne Hochberg as Swim Team Member
Elise Eberle as Angela
Nicole Patrick as Theresa
Brock Harris as Paul
Stephen Sapienza as Swim Team Member
Matthew Daddario as Aaron
Production
Casting
Breathe In is the third film from director Drake Doremus to play at the Sundance Film Festival. Doremus won the festival's dramatic grand jury prize in 2011 with Like Crazy, his first film with leading lady Felicity Jones, who took the special jury prize for acting that year. Discussing his casting of Jones in his early film Like Crazy, Doremus remembers, "She sent me a tape she made in her flat. She did the ending of the movie, actually in her shower. And it was like, 'OK, wow.' I cast her without even meeting her." After they completed Like Crazy, they began talking about working together again. "I felt like the journey wasn't complete yet, and that we had some more exploring to do."