Directed by:
Joshua ErkmanCinematography:
Jay KeitelComposer:
Ty SegallCast:
David Yow, Kai Lennox, Sarah Lind, Zachary Ray Sherman, Ashley B. Smith, Bill J. Stevens, S.A. GriffinPlots(1)
Driving across the American Southwest, struggling photographer Alex is hoping to revive his career and find inspiration within the vast landscape of deserts and abandoned roadside structures. A pit stop at an otherwise inconspicuous motel alters his plans, thanks to a younger couple whose devil-may-care attitude initially attracts Alex but quickly proves to be something more dangerous than he thought. Before long, what began as a restorative road trip descends into a nightmare that spirals beyond his control. A film that sneaks up on you with precision and its subtle nihilism, Joshua Erkman’s feature debut is a special kind of genre hybrid, taking inherently dark narrative touchstones from noir cinema and darkening them even further with visceral horror. Erkman’s clever and nimble screenplay repeatedly zigs when you expect it to zag, ultimately reaching a place of haunting devastation and signaling the arrival of an exciting and powerful new filmmaking voice in horror. (Tribeca Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (1)
For a small, indie thriller about one of today’s most disturbing real issues, A Desert is good. But we’ve already seen the same conflict depicted much more impressively and enjoyably in the fifth episode of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Too Old to Die Young. The expository build-up before the key twist is better than the execution of the twist itself. The scene that’s supposed to be the most shocking isn’t very shocking at all and the director completely avoids bringing it to a resolution in which the tension would take our breath away. And I’m afraid he avoided it not because he wanted to be original, but because he didn’t know to do it better. [Sitges FF]
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