Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: A DESERT [Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - New York, New York]
The aspect of wrong turns at wrong times creates the basis of a life unlived in Joshua Erkman's "A Desert" [Midnight] which tries to create an underbelly in the desert in Yuca Valley outside Los Angeles. A photographer Alex (Kai Lennox) is searching to find that photograph that captures the representation of the undoing of society. He seems to have an alignment taht perhaps photographing humans will change the ideal. Ironically that is really what gets him in trouble because he is searching for more...or just something out of the ordinary. The reality is that some people use this to prey on people's fears. Alex ends up at a end of the line Budget Hotel where things are just a little off. He runs into Zachary Ray Sherman (Renny) who captures the empathetic and yet crazy intelligence or instinct of a madman (that Willem Dafoe was always good at).
Alex knows better but he is desparate to find that next bext thing which will help him creatvely. While there are many indications that this might be a false flag or someone just off of their rocker, that suposition takes a hard turn (which it did need to do). The question though is it is valid, logical or even mythologicaly relevant in terms of story. The answer is fairly no but more to create a stand off situation which never really has overall meaning.The irony specifically of a movie screen is not lost. One specific flashback scene talks about that meaning in many ways.When Alex's wife Sam (Sarah Lind) hires a private investigator (David Yow), there seems to be hope but everyone is human and the relevance plays to a final showdown which doesn't quite play as dynamic or scary as it thinks it is, leaving a lot of loose ends on purpose without any real reason.The final moments do have impact but don't necessarily have any true impact beyond "they are always out to get you". And sometimes that isn't enough. B-
By Tim Wassberg
