'Maintain Respiration' begins properly as a survival thriller earlier than operating out of oxygen

The six-episode Netflix present really begins properly sufficient, with Barrera's Liv determined to discover a flight to Canada after hers is canceled and bribing her approach onto a personal aircraft that, no spoiler right here, crashes into the Canadian frontier. Left alone, she should battle and claw to outlive, discovering meals and discovering what bears do within the woods, earlier than finally in search of to rescue herself.

That is all fairly compelling for some time, however then there's the matter of why this New York lawyer was so hellbent on reaching her vacation spot, and a collection of flashbacks involving her coworker turned boyfriend (Jeff Wilbusch) and her sophisticated relationships together with her mother and father.

The switching backwards and forwards between journey/survival stakes and the moderately tedious private drama leaves "Maintain Respiration" gasping for air, as do a few of the gimmicky thrives used to primarily give Barrera -- alone as she is -- one thing with which to work together.

Produced by Martin Gero and Brendan Gall (who labored on "Blindspot," one other collection a few feminine protagonist with a shadowy previous), the episodes are comparatively and mercifully brief, with most operating 30-some-odd minutes; even so, the present cannot solely escape the widespread sensation of a film idea stretched out to roughly twice that size.