
The area of Southeast California that lies beyond Los Angeles and Palm Springs, where the manmade cities that were constructed in the desert gradually merge into the actual desert is somewhere that one could leave their automobile off the track and not be discovered for a long time. The cell network fades out and based on what section of the highway you are towards or what detour you thought was worth taking there may not be another vehicle on the blacktop for quite some time. It is a very desolate and lonely place, even without any paranormal or science fiction threats.
Clare (Kristine Froseth) might be regretting her car accident now more than ever for she is stuck in the ‘community’ of rocks and hot desert, which is far from only that. Desert Road had its world premiere at the Film Festival and it tells the story of Clare, who finds herself sitting in a car, next to a wrecked vehicle and a gas station along with a factory that has a fence around it. If one tries to get away from the car and walks towards the wasteland, there is the factory in the distance and towards it a gas station along with the car. If one goes towards the gas station and the factory, then one ends up on the road moving towards the car, and if one climbs up the hill and looks down, there is the same picture of the gas station factory and the car again. She’s stranded, with no signal and no idea what is happening.
Although it is the starting snippet that catches the attention of the readers, it can impress Shannon Triplett that bloodshed has no reason to occur as the central focus. Clare embarks on a journey to her mother’s house cutting her ambitions of being a photographer in Hollywood. While on the way she drops at a gas station clerk’s workplace, and Randy (Max Mattern) is overly warm while standing too close and leaning a little too much. Such understated menace is only uncommon in the life of women, especially ones driving through deserted trickless terrain and towns. Clare is not given any strong proof about Randy’s activities making him a creep but she for some reason feels uncomfortable, the entire atmosphere is bothering enough to hint at volatility when she actually is trapped near the gas station and Randy.
Fine craftsmanship in terms of writing and making directs Desert Road into the league of one of the best among representatives of the indie film industry with a similar storyline. It is reasonable to say that Clare is forced into an illogical situation however, she is not vapid. Her approach can be simplified as constantly gathering information and performing the next logical step towards achieving her goal. She breaks into tears in provoked circumstances that any sane person would experience in a nonsensical environment. Given that the young actress is singularly responsible for most of the film, viewers will witness an Abigail branded with an understated charm and considerable compassion. Everyone is hoping for Clare to break free, and that hope leads them to get trapped in the same logic pitfalls and in the same weird attempts at solving problems, she resorts to herself.
It is a relief that the filmic circumstance’s restrictive sensation of confinement does not stream into the aesthetics of Desert Road. Desert environments and their variations at different times of the day are captured with utmost precision by cinematographer Nico Navia. This contributes well to Clare’s aspiration to find a single photograph which is one of the best images of glory, and helps out Desert Road from visual monotony, which otherwise is unavoidable since Clare eventually is forced to repeat movements and the same days over and over again.
As far as Clare’s condition goes, there is no need to spoil that for the audience, Rather it should be emphasized here that everything comes under control and retreated to a third act that is entertaining, frightening, tender, tragic, and also encouraging. It’s a tonal sleight-of-hand orchestrating it all and the audience finally reaps the rewards of foreshadowing that’s been planted quietly so early on in the picture that you’re almost unaware of it. Sometimes “puzzle box” indie films wherein the viewer is provided a single odd supernatural event in a narrow frame can feel like a gag someone has heard a thousand times and never wants to hear again there is tension in a punchline that never comes. So much anticipation, all of them waiting for line but never connecting. With Desert Road, Triplett is able to streamline Clare’s emotional arc such that by the time an explanation is provided, it is a key moment for her progression. It’s a very specific kind of film that makes you want to see it again and again within a matter of minutes to see how certain things were done.
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