A Desert

A tattered American flag flapping at the centre of an abandoned cemetery. Old Glory. An empty screen overlooking what used to be a drive-in theatre. An entire town, left to crumble under the desert sun. These are the images landscape photographer Alex (Kai Lennox) captures on a solo expedition into the hinterlands of the southwest. It’s when Alex is persuaded to take a portrait that things get out of hand….

The visceral power of images to get under our skin lies at the heart of Joshua Erkman’s debut feature, a scorched earth neo-noir distinguished by its striking compositions and textures (DP Jay Keitel killls it). David Yow is terrific as a seedy private eye, Harry Paladino (great name!), but the movie is dominated by Zachary Ray Sherman’s howling turn as a sleazeball redneck pimping out his sister, one of those nightmare characters who sneak home with you after the end credits. Talking of which — the ending — wow!

Erkman’s screenplay is slyly intelligent, and in the second act the film takes a sharp turn that is genuinely shocking. Lynch is a difficult influence to wield responsibly, yet Erkman keeps it largely under control: A Desert, if at times too ambitious, certainly feels distinct. It’s a strange film, but it works.

Calum Marsh, New York Times

A nightmare that burrows under one’s skin like a virus (or a curse), and it heralds its creator as a bracing new genre-filmmaking voice.

Nick Schager, Daily Beast