Movie Review: Oxygen

Directed by: Alexandre Aja, 2021
IMDb listing

A woman wakes up in a medical cryogenic unit with no memory of how she got there and her oxygen supply quickly running out.

This is a pretty good French science fiction movie centered around a single actor. Watching the woman try various ways to get out of the medical unit, get help, and regain her memories, alternates between horrifying and inspiring. She’s clever and comes up with numerous ideas. The actress, Melanie Laurent, does an amazing job in a challenging role.

As an outside observer, there is a twist that’s easy for us to guess but understandably hard for her to consider. She did annoy/frustrate me a few times, but given the circumstances, her panic was deserved.

The special effects were decent. The main set had lots of detail and really felt claustrophobic and highly scientific.

There are a few gory bits and one very successful jump scare but on the whole the horror is more due to being trapped in a box with a timer counting down.

If you like psychological horror and don't mind subtitles, this is a good film.