Movie review: ‘Inhale’

It takes a while to get there, but “Inhale” eventually emerges as a tense and morally complex thriller with a devastating twist. Kinetically directed by Icelander Baltasar Kormákur from a script by Walter Doty III and John Claflin, this grim, sometimes overwrought film gets a major boost from Dermot Mulroney’s laser-focused turn as a desperate father trying to save his child’s life.

Forced to infiltrate the organ-trafficking underground in Juarez, Mexico, to secure a double lung transplant for dying daughter Chloe (Mia Stallard), stalwart New Mexico Dist. Atty. Paul Stanton (Mulroney) gets caught in a labyrinthian world of violence, greed and corruption led by a ruthless Mr. Big, code-named “Dr. Novarro” (Jordi Mollà). Aided by a gun-toting child thug who runs an anarchic band of street kids, Stanton (literally) fights brutality and obstruction as the clock ticks away on the breathing-impaired Chloe.

What begins as a black-and-white case of good guys versus bad guys (and a one-note portrayal of our neighbor to the south) turns intriguingly gray as the motivations — and justifications — of the various characters, who also include a seemingly charitable Juarez doctor ( Vincent Perez), are revealed.

Diane Kruger as Paul’s resolute wife, Sam Shepard as his secretive boss and Rosanna Arquette as Chloe’s sympathetic doctor round out the effective cast. Beware, however, some gratuitous gore.

— Gary Goldstein

“Inhale.” MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 23 minutes. At Laemmle’s Sunset 5, West Hollywood.