Catching Dust, 2023.
Directed by Stuart Gatt.
Starring Jai Courtney, Erin Moriarty, Ryan Corr, and Dina Shihabi.
SYNOPSIS:
As Geena decides to leave her criminal husband Clyde and their isolated Texas hideout, a couple from New York arrive. Ignoring the risks, she convinces Clyde to let them stay, a decision that leads to dangerous consequences for everyone.
Suffocating claustrophobia and relationships put under intense strain are given an assured study in Stuart Gatt’s mesmerising debut Catching Dust. Reflecting on fight or flight responses to extreme circumstances, the story is one of desperation and enforced loneliness. It asks profound questions of how much control people have over their own lives, especially when dealing with a controlling partner. Filled with stunning shots that look like paintings, the poetic cinematography was shot entirely in 35mm and leaves a lasting impression.
Set in the sweltering heat of the Texan desert, the story follows a couple on the run from the law. Geena (Erin Moriarty) and Clyde (Jai Courtney) are holed up in abandoned commune. They’re also hiding from some of Clyde’s former gang members who are looking to settle old scores. Geena is feeling the effects of loneliness and Clyde’s controlling ways. Just as she decides to make a clean break of it and leave, a trailer arrives with wealthy holidaying New York couple Amaya (Dina Shihabi) and Andy (Ryan Corr). Ignoring the potential risks involved, Geena manages to talk Clyde into letting them stay. This decision has serious consequences for them all.
Much of the evocative power of the film is built up by the location. The desert setting is literally in the middle of nowhere, and the fact that Andy and Amiya even managed to reach it at all is surprising. They are also suffering a different kind of pain, the mourning of a lost child. The script does well in bringing out the different layers of pain in each character, with various kinds of trauma and fear present in all of them. This can make desperate people do desperate things, which is made poetically clear in the very first scene when a gunshot rings out in the empty desert lands.
While a seemingly unavoidable tragedy is on the cards from the off, the real tragedy of the film’s characters is loneliness and failure of communication. Clyde knows that Geena is almost lost to him but cannot find the words to describe how he feels. Similarly, Amiya and Andy find it difficult to share their feelings.
As a relationship drama with a crime backdrop, Catching Dust is well worth getting lost in. The two couples have similar problems despite their vast differences in backgrounds. They are all broken in some way. The strength of the film’s sad song is discovering whether any of them can be put back together.
Catching Dust streams on VOD from January 20th.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert W Monk
