[yasr_overall_rating]
When twenty-four-year-old Jae is released from prison for killing her mother, she returns to her childhood home in small-town Ridgecrest. The desire to go anywhere but there prompts her to agree to join her brother on a road trip out to Death Valley – which results in getting them hopelessly lost in the most stunning, but unforgiving topographical terrain on the planet.
“Deserted” follows Jae (Mischa Barton), a young woman re-entering the free world after spending some years in prison for her part in her mother’s death. She doesn’t get much of a chance to settle in, though, as she quickly finds herself embarking on a trip through Death Valley with her brother Robin (Jackson Davis), their destination being a music festival called “Burn the Moon.” Also joining them are three women who seem to have a long and complicated history with Jae, which include Robin’s girlfriend Rosemary (Winter Ave Zoli), Heather (Dana Rosendorff) and Jasmine (Kelly Brannigan). Shortly after hitting the road their car breaks down, and they end up joining a couple of guys in an RV who are headed the same way. The foreshadowing to the terrible events that follow is clear as their sunny, blazing hot day ends, with the characters pointing out that they don’t have any cell service and making references to “Deliverance.” And it isn’t long before it hits the fan, after a night of partying in the desert ends in an overdose.
The idea of a “And There Were None” type thriller, where the killer itself is Death Valley, doesn’t sound very novel, and it isn’t. The human drama is never compelling, though there are a few moments where the film entices its audience by teasing the past the characters share. But the dialogue is often bland and expository and doesn’t lead to very interesting revelations. Despite the lack of subtlety in writer/director Ashley Avis’ screenplay, she does show some promise as a visual storyteller. She shoots the valley effectively, using its vastness to portray it as a harsh, unforgiving monster that eats its inhabitants alive. The cast is solid, but the material isn’t strong enough for anyone besides Barton (who is the most well-known actor in the film anyway) to make any sort of impression.
Although “Deserted” doesn’t bring much new to the table, there is something vaguely interesting (and certainly ironic) in seeing a woman leave the claustrophobic horrors of prison only to immediately lose herself in an endless, equally terrifying desert. It’s unfortunate that her journey isn’t more compelling, and that the realizations she comes to aren’t more resonant or satisfying. But I suspect that with a better screenplay Ashley Avis has what it takes to make better, more fully realized thriller.
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