‘A Desert’ Review: Motel Hell

Alex (Kai Lennox), the hero of Joshua Erkman’s languid, atmospheric neo-noir “A Desert,” is a photographer past his prime. His first book, a collection of landscapes channeling the desuetude of small-town America, put him on the map 20 years ago, and now he’s cruising the highways and byways of the Yucca Valley in California, chasing his former glory.

It’s in the nature of stories like this to offer its hero the reprieve of a disruption, and it arrives, violently, in the form of Renny (Zachary Ray Sherman), a lanky, keyed-up stranger Alex befriends at a roadside motel. Renny is clearly bad news, and for about 40 minutes, it seems obvious where “A Desert” is going. But Erkman’s screenplay is slyly intelligent, and in the second act the film takes a sharp turn that is genuinely shocking.

Erkman’s use of stark lighting — high beams cutting through the desert night — evokes “Lost Highway,” and there’s some “Mulholland Drive” in the underworld theatrics detailed on the story’s periphery. 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, and feels grounded, because of its ensemble cast. Both Lennox and Sarah Lind, as Alex’s wife, Sam, are serious and convincing, and the musician David Yow, as an oddball private detective following in Alex’s wake, gives the movie some idiosyncratic flair. But the highlight is Sherman, whose menacing Renny is truly creepy and, when he really goes berserk, electrifying.

A Desert
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. In theaters.