TO BREATHE OR NOT TO BREATHE—THAT IS THE QUESTION IN INHALE
Inhale, directed by Baltazar Kormákur, begins and ends with factual titles about organ transplanting. In the United States there is 1 organ donor for every 10 organ seekers. According to Organs Watch, some 15,000 organs are traded annually. As the film develops, filmviewers learn that there is a prioritization formula to determine who gets what. For Santa Fe Assistant District Attorney Paul Stanton (played by Dermot Mulroney), what is important is to find a lung for his daughter, elementary school age Chloe (played by Mia Stallard). When a lung becomes available in Santa Fe, however, prioritization requires shipment to a needy recipient in Salt Lake City, though the organ later dies in transshipment. In discovering that James Harrison (played by played by Sam Shepard), candidate for governor, has somehow obtained an organ without waiting very long, Stanton learns that the donor and the operation were both in Mexico. Stanton then goes to Juarez, seeking to bribe a difficult-to-find physician with a large sum of money ($200,000). But his illegal pursuit plunges him into a rough underworld in Juarez (though filmed almost entirely in New Mexico) where he encounters considerably more violence to achieve his objective than he ever anticipates. The fast-paced story, with flashbacks and flashforwards to heighten the tension, is clearly designed to stop Americans from seeking organ transplants in México. MH