A woman finds herself trapped in a harrowing nightmare in writer/director Shannon Triplett’s feature debut, Desert Road, but not in the way you’d expect. While the road trip thriller traps its protagonist in place on a desolate stretch of highway, tossing harrowing encounters and obstacles her way against a ticking clock, a sci-fi twist and a tremendous cast find new ground to explore the eternal, existential question: What if?
A young Woman (Kristen Froseth, Apostle) is already at a crossroads in her life when she pulls into a remote gas station in the middle of nowhere. Doubting her L.A. future in photography, the Woman has decided to pack up and make the long road trip home to start again. Rattled by a suspicious run-in with the gas station attendant (Max Mattern), the Woman eagerly attempts to get back on the road, but a car accident leaves her trapped in place with a nasty bump on her head. The more she tries to escape, the more she finds that all directions seem to take her right back to where she started.
Desert Road rests almost entirely on Froseth’s shoulders. The entire feature is framed from the Woman’s perspective, with Froseth in every single scene. There’s an easy affability to the Woman from the moment she’s introduced. Her clumsy mannerisms as she loads up on road trip snacks while awkwardly navigating her encounter with the gas station attendant are winsome, and Froseth demonstrates keen instincts on when to lean into her character’s more timid traits and when to kick the survival instincts into hyperdrive. Her performance is even more crucial considering that Triplett keeps us in the dark about what’s happening; we only know as much as the Woman does as she’s uncovering this bizarre, thrilling mystery piecemeal.
Notable actors Beau Bridges, Frances Fisher, and D.B. Woodside bring electric energy and nuance to small supporting roles, bringing insight and emotional resonance. But it’s Ryan Hurst’s Steve that becomes the linchpin in the Woman’s intense and heartfelt journey. Credit to both Triplett and Hurst for introducing a character of imposing size outmatched by the bigger size of his heart. When most of the Woman’s interactions in the gorgeous yet hostile desert induce dread and suspense, Hurst’s Steve often dangles hope that the Woman may yet make it through her ordeal.
That also speaks to the unique narrative structure employed here. There are no cat-and-mouse chases here or conventional antagonists to terrorize an already terrified Woman. Instead, Triplett forges an innovative path for her lead character to contend with time in literal and existential ways. The filmmaker keeps the sci-fi component simple, allowing the character’s journey and the emotional beats to take center stage. It builds to a deeply satisfying conclusion that’ll hit you in the feels, made all the more poignant from a stunning nighttime monologue.
Nico Navia’s naturalistic cinematography captures the Woman’s desperate isolation through wide and overhead shots, showcasing the vastness of the empty desert. It underscores the young Woman’s sense of paranoia and self-doubt. Triplett assembles an impressive cast and relies on simplicity to tell an affecting story, one that uses time to trap its heroine in place and force her to confront hard truths and terrifying possibilities, including her sense of self.
Desert Road made its World Premiere at SXSW. Release info TBD.
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