A DESERT
(director/writer: Joshua Erkman; screenwriter: Bossi Baker; cinematographer: Jay Keitel; editor: Star Rosencrane; music: Ty Segall; cast: Kai Lennox (Alex Clark), David Yow (Harold Palladino), Saran Lind (Sam Clark), Zachary Ray Sherman (Renny), Ashley B. Smith (Susie Q), Rob Zabrecky (The Director), S.A. Griffin (Det. Simon), Bill J. Stevens (Gus Jessop), Bill Bookston (Motel Clerk), Alexandra Ryan (Marianne); Runtime: 103; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Hugues Barbier, Joshua Erkman, Justin Timms, Joe Yanick; Yellow Veil Pictures; 2024)
“Mix of neo-noir and horror.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
This mix of neo-noir and horror is superbly directed and written by Joshua Erkman in his debut feature, who co-writes it with Bossi Baker.
Alex Clark (Kai Lennox), a longtime photographer, whose successful career has stalled, travels alone to the wastelands of Arizona looking for material he tells his wife Sam (Saran Lind) over the phone that will allow him to “purposely get lost.”
Alex needs to regain his creative edge if he wants his photographer career to flourish again and to feel good again about himself.
He uses an old-fashioned bellows camera to take the picture of an abandoned movie theater in the desert, as he looks back at a past that haunts him.
At night in the cheap run-down motel he’s staying at, he’s disturbed by the strange sounds he overhears coming from the couple in the next room. The weirdo couple, the wild-eyed Renny (Ray Sherman) and the sexy Susie Q (Ashley B. Smith), are a reckless couple who introduce themselves as siblings when they appear at his room after learning about his complaint to the front desk. Despite all the red flags, the polite Alex still hangs out with the bad news pair after they apologize and buy him a drink at the bar.
Of course, that turns out to be a big mistake. His involvement with them will mean he disappears for a week, as his wife after not hearing from him hires the shady private eye Harold Palladino (David Yow) to find him in the desert.
I won’t reveal more, as I believe you will be better off the less you know before seeing it.
It played at the Tribeca Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 4/27/2025 GRADE: B+
dennisschwartzreviews.com