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Sometimes it’s good to get away from it all—to disconnect from the constant buzzing of notifications and enjoy a tech-free escape to relax and regroup. But in the thriller A Desert, one man discovers the dangers of ending up disconnected from the rest of the world.
A Desert follows photographer Alex (Kai Lennox) on a road trip into the desert to get out of the studio and renew his passion for his art. While exploring abandoned buildings in the middle of nowhere, he stops for the night at a small roadside motel. There, he meets Renny and Susie Q (Zachary Ray Sherman and Ashley Smith), the rowdy pair who are staying in the room next to his. And after one wild night with this neighbors, he finds himself on an unexpected nightmare of a journey.
Alex’s trip into the desert was supposed to be a chance for him to disconnect from the outside world for a while—in a place with no cell coverage and no GPS—and also to reconnect with his love of photography. His escape in search of inspiration gives the beginning of the film a solitary and almost serene feel. It’s clear that the character has gone through a slump—that he’s been struggling to pay the bills doing what he loves—and he’s setting out to discover the places and things that will return him to the success of his younger years. But his adventures take him somewhere that he’s not supposed to go—and once he meets Renny and Susie, his trip to rediscover his passion for photography quickly turns from peaceful and inspiring to wild and raucous to dark and deadly.
What plays out after the story takes its turn is tense—but also somewhat perplexing. Viewers don’t get a whole lot of background on the characters, so we’re left to piece things together on our own—to understand these people, their history, their actions, and what’s actually going on in that abandoned military base in the desert. It’s a suspenseful slow-burn of a film—with the occasional burst of action. But without a whole lot of development, it also feels strange and distant and disconnected.
A Desert takes a solitary journey of rediscovery and turns it into something that’s dark and eerie and dangerous. It’s an intriguing film—but one that will also leave viewers wishing they felt more connected to the characters and their actions.
You can follow Alex on his journey into the desert when A Desert expands to additional theaters on May 16, 2025.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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