Breaking.Pointe.Part.Two..Odette.Delacroix..Elise.Graves is now streaming on ArtHouse Digital and playing in select 70mm engagements. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
In the world of high-art cinema and psychological thrillers, few independent films have generated the cult following of Breaking Pointe . The first installment left audiences breathless—not just for its stunning choreography, but for its brutal honesty about the price of physical obsession. Now, with the release of Breaking.Pointe.Part.Two..Odette.Delacroix..Elise.Graves , directors and fans alike are calling it the most intense character study since Black Swan . But what makes this sequel a seismic event? It is the volatile, almost sacred collision between two women: Odette Delacroix, the veteran, and Elise Graves, the prodigy. The Lore: How We Got Here To understand the gravity of Part Two , we must revisit the finale of Breaking Pointe . Odette Delacroix (played with haunting fragility by Method actress Sasha Pivovarova) limped off the stage of the Paris Opéra Ballet after a catastrophic Achilles injury. Her rival, Elise Graves (a breakout performance by competitive gymnast-turned-actress Mia Holland), took the lead in Giselle . But the first film ended not with triumph, but with a question mark: Elise, backstage, clutching Odette’s broken pointe shoe, a look of terror—not joy—on her face.
For those who loved Whiplash , The Red Shoes , or Perfect Blue , this film is required viewing. It asks a question few artists dare to voice: If you remove the suffering, do you remove the art? Breaking.Pointe.Part.Two..Odette.Delacroix..Elise.Graves is brutal, pretentious, and occasionally unbearable to watch. It is also a masterpiece. Mia Holland should win an Oscar. Sasha Pivovarova should win a special trophy for “Most Terrifying Glare.” And director Katarina Voss has proven that the human body, pushed to its absolute limit, is the most powerful special effect in cinema. Breaking.Pointe.Part.Two..Odette.Delacroix..Elise.Graves
The film’s most innovative sequence—the “Mirror Pas de Deux”—features Elise dancing against a hologram of Odette’s younger self. It is a five-minute uninterrupted shot where Elise’s face cycles through rage, ecstasy, despair, and finally, a blank, dissociative peace. When she lands a final grand jeté and her leg snaps audibly, the audience in the test screenings reportedly gasped for air.
What makes Odette’s arc so compelling is the subversion of the “older mentor” trope. Delacroix is not trying to save Elise; she is trying to destroy the part of Elise that reminds her of her own lost youth. In one brutal scene, Odette forces Elise to repeat a fouetté en tournant 147 times until her toenails bleed through the satin. The camera lingers on Odette’s face—not with cruelty, but with a terrifying maternal longing. She wants Elise to break so badly that she rebuilds into something immortal. Breaking
Critics have noted that Odette Delacroix represents the pre-#MeToo era of ballet: the dictatorial, sexually ambiguous, chemically dependent genius who believes that suffering is the only true pedagogy. Her speech halfway through the film is already being quoted in drama schools: “You think the audience pays to see you happy? No, child. They pay to see the moment you realize you are dying.” If Odette is the storm, Elise Graves is the ship trying not to shatter. Actress Mia Holland trained for 14 months for this role, learning en pointe from former Royal Ballet principal Lorena Feijoo. The result is visceral. Elise’s body is a text of scars: a botched bunion surgery, a hairline spinal fracture from Part One , and now, the psychosomatic paralysis.
Do not see this film if you are squeamish about blood, broken bones, or emotional demolition. But if you want to understand why ballet is called “the art of the cross”—the intersection of agony and grace—buy a ticket. Bring tissues. And never, ever look away. It is the volatile, almost sacred collision between
Elise’s journey is not about becoming a star. It is about reclaiming agency. In a devastating third-act monologue, Elise looks at Odette and says: “You broke your body for art. I will break my mind. And I will still be standing when your ghost has rotted.” This line has become a rallying cry for dancers suffering from eating disorders and repetitive strain injuries. Director Katarina Voss (known for Iron Ribbon and Hollow Bone ) shoots Breaking.Pointe.Part.Two..Odette.Delacroix..Elise.Graves like a war film. The color palette shifts from the warm, golden rehearsal rooms of the first film to the cold, blue-grey concrete of a repurposed Eastern Bloc warehouse. The sound design is revolutionary: every sous-sus sounds like a gunshot; every fall onto a sprung floor echoes like a body hitting pavement.