SXSW 2024- Desert Road Review- A Dizzing Time Warp Debut From Shannon Triplett

I’ve seen a ton of time-travel movies. They are a particular obsession of mine. The concept of infinite reality and being able to zip back and forth in time, righting wrongs or exploiting situations, has always appealed to me. Shannon Triplett’s Desert Road is a story I have seen before, yet I was engrossed the whole time. Ambitious yet encapsulated, the tiny world that makes up a cage of sorts for several people’s lifetimes is as dry and dead as any desert, and yet it hides a bustling sea of life if you know where to look and are brave enough to do so.

It’s tough when you are young and just starting out. Often, you can feel as if you will never get noticed and will always get overlooked by someone bigger, more established, more experienced male. Our protagonist, only known as Woman, has been beaten down by years in Los Angeles trying to make it as a photographer. After too many rejections and too few paychecks, she decides to pack everything up, lick her wounds, and come home. Her dream of being an artist is dashed; she wants to give up and has resigned herself to a lifetime of working jobs she doesn’t love to pay the bills.

She is “stuck on a loop” and needs a way out of failure. Her encouraging mother(Rachel Dratch) refreshingly tells her to keep going. She tells her not to give up. She sagely advises that maybe she is lonely. The Woman thinks she means “get a man” and shuts her down, but her mother is just advising her to find friends and people she can trust to help her when she needs it. It doesn’t make us weak to ask for help and admit we aren’t always okay. The Woman doesn’t want to hear it, though; thus, her refusal to take good advice is the catalyst for the decades-spanning trial to get back to her time before she loses her mind or life.

After stopping for gas and snacks at an isolated gas station in the middle of nowhere, she pops a tire and runs into a boulder, effectively ending her farewell tour early. Back at the gas station she has an unpleasant encounter with the sketchy shop attendant and now doesn’t trust anyone. It’s hard to fault her as things snowball out of control, yet there is the slightest hint that maybe she should have taken her mom’s advice after all. However, you can’t fault her decision-making as Max Mattern’s turn as the attendant is brilliant. He is squirrely, fidgety, and very suspicious. Unfortunately, his behavior puts her on edge, and it doesn’t get any better when the only tow truck driver, Steve(Ryan Hurst), for miles, says he won’t be there for hours and expects prepayment by phone ahead of time.

After giving him her credit card, she begins wasting time and walking. The problem is that no matter where she goes, she always ends up back in the same couple of places. This is a perpetual physical loop that becomes existential as things begin disappearing and, more alarmingly, reappear without explanation. Kristine Froseth’s character is a striking and likable presence on camera. We root for her and are afraid for her. She is a smart everywoman we can relate to, which grounds the film even when the time shenanigans get complicated.

Time and again, the few people she meets along the road offer no help, and the gas station attendant acts stranger each time she sees her. With no one to help her, she begins writing down notes and maps, hoping to find a way out. It is here that Desert Road’s spell really takes hold. We are all in on this lonely road trip to nowhere, and we want her to escape. Anna Dubich’s rich score offers hope and terror when needed to drive tension and keep us engaged.

Triplett and cinematographer Nico Navia use confident eyes, letting the Mojave Desert do the heavy lifting. The play of light and shifting sands inform where we are at any given time. The desolation of the setting is scary without tricks. Isolated and abandoned, this place feels as unstuck in time as the Woman becomes. Triplett’s script doesn’t refer to any specific place along this road, but none is needed to know this space. Anyone who has ever traveled along this route would know it anywhere, and those who haven’t are affected by it nonetheless.

When the inevitable answers reveal themselves, they don’t disappoint. Films like this often leave us wanting more, yet Desert Road delivers the emotional goods with turns from Jeff Bridges and Frances Fisher, who hit the perfect notes of despair and optimism. Their surprising characters are best left revealed in the moment.

This is the kind of movie that will be watched repeatedly to catch all the little details you missed the first time. It also will undoubtedly warrant a slew of explained pieces, picking at all the bones left scattered across the desert ground. Desert Road is a reality-bending triumph for Triplett, who shows she is ready to step up and usher in the next era of touching science fiction. It’s a feel-good movie that is sure to please.

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