The best thing creators can do to standout while working with well-worn ideas is to find something that makes their take unique. Be it by seeing the story through an uncommon point of view or in repurposing classic tropes to tell a story with fresh beats, the trick is landing on one or two things that creators can claim as theirs. Candice Rogers’s Let Them Breathe: City on the Ocean, an emotional anime-infused zombie movie with dashes of fantasy and deep personal drama, does exactly that, though its alterations to the formula lead to a special kind of weird that won’t be for everyone.
Let Them Breath, which already has a cult following on YouTube and its own video game on Steam, is a digitally animated story that follows a boy called Jesse as he wakes up to a zombie apocalypse. His family is gone and his friends are now a part of the undead horde. He remembers a friend he had in school called Selena and latches onto the idea of finding her in the hopes that reconnecting will bring some new meaning to this new reality.
The zombies in Let Them Breathe are melancholic, walking reminders of the tragedy of lives cut short and friends lost. Rogers utilizes them as an extension of Jesse’s worst fears as a teen. These are not George Romero zombies or the ultraviolent fast zombies from the Dawn of the Dead remake or 28 Days Later (infected humans in this case). They do a bit more to drive specific parts of the plot, which was a welcome addition. Not many zombie movies complicate the reanimated corpse beyond being someone’s loved one.
You might be saying to yourself that the premise isn’t really indicative of anything too weird, and you’d be right. That part comes in its execution and in its artistic direction. Rogers opts for a cel-shaded approach to the animation that accentuates the human characters but keeps locations and backgrounds mostly flat and sparsely colored. The effect gives off a kind of indie video game feel to the action that is sometimes clunky and somewhat janky. Objects often clip through character models and movement comes across as floaty.
In addition, the movie features all but three performers doing the voice work: Boris Jumper (as characters 1 and 2), Yumiko D (Jesse Chen, Jake Chen, and Mr. Chen), and Candice Rogers herself (as Selena and 5). This emboldens the indie spirit driving Let Them Breathe, though it sometimes makes it difficult to tell characters apart during verbal exchanges. That said, these three performers are clearly comfortable with each other, making the dialogue unravel with the tone and sense of intimacy the story demands. It imbues the themes explored in it with a sense of relatability, too.
For instance, Jesse struggles with being Chinese while knowing how to speak Japanese, and how that confuses those around him through no fault of his own. Yumiko D responds to this with a cadence that’s proper of a teen trying very hard not to fully give in to angst and existential despair. Rogers achieves this as well, giving Selena a matter-of-fact view on things when needed to harness that sense of dismissiveness teens display when confronted with difficult topics.
It all combines for an experience that you are either attuned to or have little patience for. For those who enjoy this type of storytelling, which can be found in many indie projects currently trying to find an audience on YouTube and other video platforms, then this has all the requisite elements in place to satisfy. Those who aren’t into this style won’t become converts here.
Let Them Breathe is certainly a movie for a particular audience, one that vibes with the kind of visual and dialogue stylings discussed here (namely video art and teen-centered anime). You have to buy into it or you will be put off by it. What is undeniably true, no matter which group you side with, is that Rogers’ zombie drama is unlike anything out there at the moment. If this is the type of film you’re looking for, then you’re in for quite an experience.
Let Them Breathe: City on the Ocean will be in theaters on September 6th, 2024.
