A Desert

Play trailer

1:39

A Desert

2025

1h 42m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

40 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A past-his-prime photographer heads out on a road trip across the American Southwest to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into this nightmare world with him. A DESERT is a sun-bleached neo-noir horror film about time, the chaos of our world, and the relevance of images in the cultural desert we are faced with today.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

A metatextual meditation on cinema made with inventive style, A Desert's cerebral frights are enough to satisfy anyone parched for thoughtful horror.

Read Critics Reviews

Jamie Graham

Empire Magazine

Dec 1

4/5

For a movie that opens in an abandoned cinema and possesses a strong meta dimension throughout, it’s only fitting that A Desert proves so potent, its mood and meanings impossible to shake.

Go to Full Review

Leslie Felperin

Guardian

Nov 18

3/5

It’s perhaps not a very profound message, but the visual and editing styles are swoony and most bewitching.

Go to Full Review

Simon Abrams

RogerEbert.com

05/02/2025

2/4

There’s only so much room for mystery in a movie whose surreal ambiguity only says so much.

Go to Full Review

Emilie Black

Cinema Crazed

Mar 31

Some will love it, but for this viewer it was one of those misses where the film is neither good nor bad; it just is, and there is no greater cinematic sin than a bland film. Especially when it had potentially to be so much more.

Go to Full Review

Caitlyn Downs

ScaredSheepless.com

Mar 27

4.5/5

Joshua Erkman's methodical thriller rewards audience investment with an accomplished assault on the senses.

Go to Full Review

Bee Delores

B-Sides & Badlands

Mar 27

3.5/5

A Desert subverts expectations. It doesn't follow any sort of playbook, but instead, it invents its own rules. Joshua Erkman leaves a searing mark on horror, indicating that he has plenty more to say. He just needs time to say it.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

tm11999 M

@tm11999 May 7

yeah....uhhhh.....no splaining in this story. who's the bald guy in one scene?is the motel guy in on it? nobody can find his car, and the PI gets fooled and drugged by the devil people? the devil girl at the end is still alive? so desert communities don't have police or forensics? where does sam end up? don't watch this, EVER!!! go get a new pair of work boots, a nice pair of keens or red wings instead.

See more

Les N

@Vegas628 May 7

Great movie. Surely no woman is that useless?

See more

ELB E

@Mulholland Apr 6

This film definitely leaves a stamp on the soul. Several reviewers have complained that it is ‘murky’ or ‘bewildering.’ But this is the kind of film that I really appreciate. No easy answers, much left unsaid and unshown. But I see this as quite a strong point of the storytelling. There is more than enough plot framework and character development here. A sense of place resonates with increasing dread as the story unfolds. The ‘loose ends’ are far more intriguing and satisfying to me than a film that spells everything out and spoon feeds the viewer. If you enjoy David Lynch’s work (and I do) you will see quite a lot of him here - particularly ‘Lost Highway.’ This is a tense, horrifying, mystifying film - bold and dark, unsettling, sure-footed and grimly brilliant.

See more

Stoner J.

@Stoner Mar 19

2 stars because it was done well. But absolutely nothing is explained or makes sense. A waste of an hour and 40 minutes. It’s also extremely long and boring despite a decent runtime.

See more

Tim B.

@SlimTim0707 Feb 27

A Desert aims to be primarily character and event driven, and while uneven with both, it's just original enough to recommend.

See more

Phil S.

@Xenothos Jan 17

The movie had a good story but it was too slow. Would not classify this as a horror movie.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Joshua Erkman

Director

David Yow

Harold Palladino

Kai Lennox

Alex Clark

Sarah Lind

Sam Clark

Zachary Ray Sherman

Renny

Ashley B. Smith

Susie Q

Hokum

90%

82%

Hokum

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Hokum

Influencers

96%

69%

Influencers

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Influencers

Obsession

94%

94%

Obsession

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Obsession

Diés Iraé

%

74%

Diés Iraé

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Diés Iraé

In Our Blood

100%

%

In Our Blood

Watchlist

TRAILER

for In Our Blood

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

A Desert: Trailer 1

1:39

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

A past-his-prime photographer heads out on a road trip across the American Southwest to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into this nightmare world with him. A DESERT is a sun-bleached neo-noir horror film about time, the chaos of our world, and the relevance of images in the cultural desert we are faced with today.

Director: Joshua Erkman
Producer: Hugues Barbier, Joshua Erkman, Justin Timms, Joe Yanick
Screenwriter: Joshua Erkman, Bossi Baker
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Production Co: Capes and Fog, Yellow Veil Pictures
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 2, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 29, 2025
Runtime: 1h 42m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)