Oxygen

A touching portrait of youth facing mortality far too soon, Oxygen centers on Tom, a teen with cystic fibrosis, who rebels against the condition he and his elder brother Lucas were born with. While Lucas endures his more seriously challenged health with patience (“It could be worse. We could be sick in America. Or gay in Iran.”), 17-year-old Tom hangs out with a group of ne’er-do-wells between hospital stays, taking part in their petty thefts and general rabble-rousing as an escape from dwelling on the fact that his life is likely to be short. Still, Tom’s condition makes periods of confinement unavoidable. During one hospital stay, he meets fellow CF sufferer Xavier, a 30-ish guy who seems to have achieved the dream adulthood Tom might never reach: cool job (underwater photographer), cool car and hot girlfriend. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)