A Desert

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A Desert

2024

1h 43m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

Popcornmeter

0 Ratings

A past-his-prime photographer heads out on a road trip across the American Southwest to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into this nightmare world with him. A DESERT is a sun-bleached neo-noir horror film about time, the chaos of our world, and the relevance of images in the cultural desert we are faced with today.

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

AWFJ.org

A Desert should be best celebrated as a Choose Your Own Adventure film for sickos. It has so many dynamic moving parts that are all meticulously and soulfully orchestrated.

Jun 11, 2024

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

Variety

sense of unpinnable but pervasive evil is something the film would like to communicate, but lacks the stylistic finesse to achieve. The narrative ultimately vanishes down a rabbit’s hole.

Jun 11, 2024

Full Review

Christian Zilko

indieWire

Rather than trying to understand exactly what it means, you’re better off appreciating it like one of Alex’s photos. Just like an abandoned roadside diner becoming overrun by fungi and rodent’s nests, sometimes the emptiness is the point.

Rated: B

Jun 11, 2024

Full Review

Molly Henery

The Blogging Banshee

A Desert is a hauntingly bleak neo-noir thriller, taking the audience on a strange journey into the darker side of human nature.

Rated: 6.5/10

Oct 23, 2024

Full Review

William Stottor

Loud and Clear Reviews

Memorable visuals and slick editing can’t mask the deeper issues with A Desert — namely, the flimsy narrative and glacial pacing.

Rated: 2.5/5

Sep 3, 2024

Full Review

Joel Harley

Starburst

This gritty thriller by Joshua Erkman blends Hitchcockian mystery with the urbanoia chills of a Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Deliverance.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 27, 2024

Full Review

Read all reviews

Joshua Erkman

Director

Kai Lennox

Actor

David Yow

Actor

Sarah Lind

Actor

Zachary Ray Sherman

Actor

Ashley B. Smith

Actor

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Synopsis

A past-his-prime photographer heads out on a road trip across the American Southwest to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into this nightmare world with him. A DESERT is a sun-bleached neo-noir horror film about time, the chaos of our world, and the relevance of images in the cultural desert we are faced with today.

Director: Joshua Erkman
Producer: Hugues Barbier, Joshua Erkman, Justin Timms, Joe Yanick
Screenwriter: Joshua Erkman, Bossi Baker
Production Co: Capes and Fog, Yellow Veil Pictures
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 43m