Catching Dust, 2024.
Written and Directed by Stuart Gatt.
Starring Jai Courtney, Erin Moriarty, Dina Shihabi, Ryan Corr, and Olwen Fouéré.
SYNOPSIS:
As Geena decides to leave her criminal husband Clyde and their isolated Texas hideout, a couple from NY arrive. Ignoring the risks, she convinces Clyde to let them stay, a decision that leads to dangerous consequences for everyone.
Throughout writer/director Stuart Gatt’s Catching Dust, his characters hesitate about every choice they make or contemplate before quickly pulling back. Naturally, this is frustrating from a narrative perspective, and not because there is a rich complexity to these people. Instead, it’s more a lack of confidence from a filmmaker who isn’t quite sure what to do with the somewhat familiar situation he has cooked up between two fractured domestic couples.
Clyde (a grizzled and gruff, bearded Jai Courtney delivering one of his more distinct performances, which doesn’t necessarily mean memorable) and Geena (Erin Moriarity) live in a camper far away from society in a Texas desert. More specifically, Clyde is domineering with implications of past physical abuse; he insists it is still not the right time to return to society, forbids her from indulging her artistic side, and is outwardly distant despite harboring affection for her (a term to be used loosely, because whatever this is, it’s difficult to call it love.) Early on, Geena shows signs of standing up for herself, finally being done with this oppressive lifestyle, especially when Clyde comes close to physically hurting her again. Still, she can’t quite find it within herself to make our way to the nearest town and turn law enforcement onto his behavior.
Suddenly, a New York couple arrives, mentioning that this place is listed as a community (which doesn’t make sense given how hard Clyde works to stay off the grid, but then again, there wouldn’t be a movie otherwise.) They are Andy (Ryan Corr) and Amaya (Dina Shihabi), grieving a tragic incident that conveniently has something in common with Clyde’s sad backstory. Understandably, Geena is excited by the possibility of their way of life expanding into an actual community, showing hospitality and encouraging them to stay in the area for as long as they want. Meanwhile, Clyde is threatening and paranoid that this will lead to further exposure. He is clearly trying to outrun a disgraced past, which the movie slowly hints at.
Additional conflict comes from the shifting dynamics between these four individuals: Andy encourages Geena to embrace her artistic side and spends quite a lot of time with her. Expectedly, this begins to frustrate Amaya, who is not only bothered by Clyde’s strict rules for growing vegetation but visibly upset with Andy for other reasons. That’s enough drama to build up to something explosive, but Stuart Gatt struggles to take the story somewhere compelling, failing to say much about these characters beyond broad-stroke reveals. In Clyde’s case, it feels like a tool for unearned cheap sympathy.
There is assuredly much to admire within these performances, whether it be Jai Courtney’s internal pain and insecurities fueling his toxic masculinity or the quiet and indecisive nature of Geena (who genuinely seems happy when she is allowed to paint, something I’m unsure why Clyde is so adamantly against) as an emotionally (and in the past, physically) battered significant other. Set against some admittedly gorgeous picturesque scenery with some stunning shots at dusk (courtesy of Aurélien Marra), these elements are spun repeatedly, culminating somewhere not far from square one. The final reveals land somewhere between predictable and forced. Mostly, Catching Dust blows in the wind, representing nothingness.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
