Movie · 2022 · Documentary, Drama · 1h 37m · English
Curator score: 7.4/10 (24.2K ratings)
Overview
Against the darkening backdrop of New Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protecting one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the black kite.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.4/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.65/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Metacritic: 87
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Shaunak Sen
Production
Rise Films, Kiterabbit Films, Tangled Bank Studios
Cast
Mohammad Saud, Nadeem Shehzad, Salik Rehman
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A quietly devastating, visually patient documentary that turns environmental collapse into an intimate story of care, resilience, and coexistence. Its blend of ecological urgency and humane observation makes it especially rewarding if you like contemplative nonfiction with a strong sense of place.
Best for
viewers who like poetic, observational documentaries
people interested in climate, pollution, and urban ecology
fans of understated human-interest stories
audiences drawn to meditative, visually rich cinema
Skip if
you want a fast-paced investigative documentary
you prefer clear-cut narrative arcs and big revelations
you are looking for something light or uplifting
you dislike slow, contemplative pacing
Overview
All That Breathes is less interested in explaining a crisis than in letting you feel one. In New Delhi, where the air itself seems hostile, two brothers devote themselves to rescuing black kites that fall from the sky, and the film finds its power in the daily repetition of that act of care. It is a documentary about birds, but also about survival, mutual dependence, and the fragile ethics of staying alive together.
Worth noting
Shaunak Sen’s approach is patient and lyrical without becoming precious. The film observes the city as a living system under pressure, moving between environmental catastrophe, social unrest, and the brothers’ small-scale labor of repair. That balance gives it a rare emotional texture: mournful, but never merely despairing.
Bottom line
What lingers most is its sense that compassion can be a form of resistance. The film doesn’t pretend that tending to injured birds can fix a broken world, but it does insist that attention matters. For viewers open to a reflective documentary, it’s one of the year’s most affecting and beautifully composed films.
Top Letterboxd reviews
davidehrlich (3.5★) · 404 likes
Often more than 10 times worse than in any other city on Earth, the air in Delhi is so toxic and inhospitable to life itself that birds regularly fall from the sky like feathered rain. The creatures have done their best to compensate for other symptoms of pollution — one species began singing to each other at a higher pitch in order to pierce through the industrial noise, while another started using discarded cigarette butts as parasite repellent — but… more Often more than 10 times worse than in any other city on Earth, the air in Delhi is so toxic and inhospitable to life itself that birds regularly fall from the sky like feathered rain. The creatures have done their best to compensate for other symptoms of pollution — one species began singing to each other at a higher pitch in order to pierce through the industrial noise, while another started using discarded cigarette butts as parasite repellent — but… more
Thomas Flight (4★) · 355 likes
I love when you can tell the documentary filmmakers aren't just telling you the story, but are showing you a way of seeing. This film isn't just the story of a family doing what they can to save dying kites in Delhi, it's also a depiction of a way of looking at the world that leads you to see this as important. The depiction of the ecological tragedy happening in Delhi is never salacious, it's presented directly, but also with… more I love when you can tell the documentary filmmakers aren't just telling you the story, but are showing you a way of seeing. This film isn't just the story of a family doing what they can to save dying kites in Delhi, it's also a depiction of a way of looking at the world that leads you to see this as important. The depiction of the ecological tragedy happening in Delhi is never salacious, it's presented directly, but also with… more
Brian Tallerico (4.5★) · 309 likes
“Humans often forget they’re also pieces of meat.”
What a beauty. Just a phenomenal character study of our place in the world.
Joe A (4★) · 205 likes
Life itself is a kinship. We’re all a community of air.
Oscar Gauntlet: #35/54
Kevflix And Chill (3★) · 195 likes
There’s a pervasive sense of dread that looms over this entire film that is rather unsettling. Two brothers in New Delhi have dedicated their lives to rescuing a species of bird called black kites that have been falling out of the sky in ever increasing numbers as the air quality progressively deteriorates. The brothers laugh off theoretical threats of nuclear war in the news, have protests and violence in the streets miles from their hospital, periodically have sewage overflowing onto… more There’s a pervasive sense of dread that looms over this entire film that is rather unsettling. Two brothers in New Delhi have dedicated their lives to rescuing a species of bird called black kites that have been falling out of the sky in ever increasing numbers as the air quality progressively deteriorates. The brothers laugh off theoretical threats of nuclear war in the news, have protests and violence in the streets miles from their hospital, periodically have sewage overflowing onto… more