Being stuck in a hopeless situation, and a location that has no other human in sight for miles, can make someone desperate enough to take extreme action. Catching Dust, written and directed by Stuart Gatt, hinges on this premise. While it plays into certain expectations regarding characters and their relationships, the film is a desert drama brimming with tension that’s wound so tight it could snap at any moment. It plays its cards right for the most part, building suspense and creating intriguing character dynamics, even though its focus gets too caught up in the climactic ending more than anything else.
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Catching Dust begins with Clyde (Jai Courtney), a rough, emotionally distant man who is hiding out in the Texas desert, taking a gun into a neighbor’s mobile home. A gunshot is heard from within, a scream echoes in the distance, but it’s unclear who was shot. The film goes back in time, then, introducing Clyde’s wife Geena (Erin Moriarty), an artist who is stifled by the isolated life she leads. She was told it was a temporary situation, and Geena’s frustration was evident in every controlling action Clyde takes. He won’t let her go into town, doesn’t give her any answers regarding their stay, and used to hit Geena. Clyde, for his part, is stoic and paranoid. So you can imagine that he doesn’t take it well when a wealthy New York couple, Andy (Ryan Corr) and Amaya (Dina Shihabi, who is excellent), who have recently suffered a loss, arrive at the now-empty commune hoping for a reset.

Watching the story unfold is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Clyde is cold, but he’s also one of the more interesting characters. Perhaps it’s the way he’s written with a bit more depth, and Jai Courtney really sells the gruff, somewhat lost demeanor, carrying himself with an assuredness despite being a jumpy man who’s always checking what’s behind him. Whereas the other characters, namely Andy and Amaya, aren’t given as much, and their dynamic is a case of insinuations rather than actual development. It’s also easy to see where Geena is coming from considering her life is so cage-like, and though there are a few clichés wrapped into her story, Erin Moriarty is captivating in the role, conveying Geena’s hopelessness, trepidation, and the desire to leave by any means necessary.

That Geena and Clyde are more well-rounded as characters makes Andy and Amaya seem hollow by comparison. That said, it’s the characters’ exchanges that elevate the film and turn the story into a more compelling one. They contrast one another, but they also share similarities despite their socioeconomic statuses. They all use each other in one way or another, though Clyde approaches Andy and Amaya with paranoia, his brute, stand-offish nature turning him into a terrifying force that is more obvious than Andy’s polished exterior, which hides a lot of darkness as well.

Catching Dust has a great buildup, leaning heavily into the suspense of the inevitable stand-off between the characters. The ending is still abrupt, however, and there’s a distinct feeling that the film cuts corners to get to an ending that has been pushed from the beginning, but nearly abandons the slow-burn development that came before. The film’s finale doesn’t derail it, but it does make the story a bit less interesting. The initial focus on the hopelessness and despair, grief and lack of independence and control was more than enough to carry the story to its ending. Still, Catching Dust has pieces in place to make for an engaging, fascinating watch, especially when its focus is on the two couples and how they engage with each other.

Catching Dust screened at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. The film is 96 minutes long and is not yet rated.