Catching Dust
by Eva Fraser
Catching Dust is a film that makes you think. It lays out the end at the beginning, picking up the pieces as it goes.
Writer/director Stuart Gatt creates a masterful story that analyzes the inner motivations of regular people under the pretext of an intriguing, slow-burn thriller. In a sparsely inhabited stretch of desert in Texas, Clyde (Jai Courtney) and his wife Geena (Erin Moriarty) live away from society, hiding out from the law.
With tensions on the rise and Geena wanting more, they tangle themselves in a web of secrets and desires that only worsen with the unexpected arrival of another couple (Dina Shihabi as Amaya and Ryan Corr as Andy). As the desert winds swirl around them, everyone begins questioning what love means.
As intense and raw as the desert, the small but poignant cast holds the film up to its highest standard through stunning performances. Each actor digs deep and creates a connection to the audience. Jai Courtney stuns as Clyde. His performance is so packed with realism that it is impossible not to sympathize with him and view his side of the argument, even though he is clearly a possessive and manipulative character.
The most interesting part of this film is that you can see each character as a potential villain. There is a protagonist, but there are times when you doubt it. The exciting part of this thriller is the actual mystery of it all rather than fear. There isn’t some sinister omniscient presence lurking in one of the characters— it is in all of them.
The variable, heated, and ever-changing emotions of these characters contrast with the stagnant landscape of the desert. The only thing that changes is the wind.
Cinematographer Aurélien Marra finds a common thread between the characters and the desert and runs with it. Marra captures the vastness and loneliness of the desert in landscape shots surrounding powerful sequences. Most importantly, the emotional temperature of each scene is meticulous. Each scene shot in Clyde and Geena’s trailer, a hotspot for conflict, blazes through the screen. Scenes in Andy and Amaya’s trailer are cooler and more blank, but the desert heat never fails to permeate the shot.
Whether you love drama or are an avid thriller buff, Catching Dust satisfies many palates. No matter what you think of the film, it sticks in your mind, those desert landscapes melding with a feeling of unsteady calm, a dry heat, a torturous hot summer’s day.
