KEEP BREATHING is a new Netflix series about survival. To be specific, it’s a survival thriller series in six episodes that are between 30 to 40 minutes long. Essentially, you can watch this mini-series in around three hours. And really, you should expect to binge-watch it since every episode ends on a cliffhanger.

It’s a survival story that tells a very complete story. Especially via flashbacks that help our lone survivor keep fighting. Melissa Barrera is simply perfect in the all-important lead role!

In so many ways, the Netflix series Keep Breathing is a classic survival story. In fact, a lone survivor! Our main protagonist is desperate to get to a remote town (we’ll find out why later on). After her own flight is canceled due to bad weather, she manages to get on board a private plane.

Unfortunately, this plane crashes in the remote Canadian frontier. Nobody knows where she is and now she’s the lone survivor surrounded by mountains and forests. Quite the change of scenery for New York lawyer, Liv (Melissa Barrera) who must battle both the unforgiving wilderness and past personal traumas to stay alive.

Fortunately, the personal traumas of her childhood are also what has made her strong, persistent, and knowledgeable enough to keep fighting. And, as the title says, keep breathing!

These years are showing the immense talent of Melissa Barrera. From the brilliant Starz series Vida to the musical In the Heights onto, of course, starring in the Scream requel of this year (Scream 5 released in 2022). And yes, she will be back in the next Scream 6 (2023) which is currently filming.

Melissa Barrera manages to give it a 110% in whatever she does and Keep Breathing on Netflix is no exception.

While Melissa Barrera is very much on her own in the wilderness, she has a habit of seeing and talking to people. Obviously, she is talking to herself, but it’s a way of trying to figure out what to do. Basically, instead of the Wilson volleyball in Cast Away, she talks to visions of people that she knows fully aren’t really there.

We also become familiar with these people via flashbacks that show us both how Liv (Melissa Barrera) ended up on this private plane and why she is the tough, no-nonsense lawyer in her everyday life. In other key roles, we see Jeff Wilbusch, Austin Stowell (Fantasy Island), Juan Pablo Espinosa (Narcos), and Florencia Lozano.

For me, Jeff Wilbusch (Unorthodox) didn’t work in episode 1 at all. However, by the end of the series, I found him absolutely perfect in the role of Liv’s colleague and romantic interest.

Watch the Keep Breathing series on Netflix!
Keep Breathing is a limited series directed by just two directors. The first three episodes are directed by Maggie Kiley (Dr. Death, Dirty John) while the final three are directed by Rebecca Rodriguez. As a series, you won’t notice that two different directors are behind the episodes since it’s very homogenous.

The new Netflix mini-series was written by Martin Gero, Brendan Gall, and Iturri Sosa. It was also executive produced by director Maggie Kiley and the writers and co-showrunners Brendan Gall and Martin Gero (Blindspot, The Lovebirds).

You can watch all six episodes (each around 35 minutes long) on Netflix as one long movie and be very entertained. I know I certainly was. Especially due to Melissa Barrera’s performance!

Keep Breathing is out on Netflix from July 28, 2022.