MEN BEHAVING BADLY IN ‘DESOLATE’
“Desolate,” a punchy, little, low-budget thriller, is set in a parallel America/ near-future where drought has reduced much of the world to a level of subsistence that falls somewhere between “Mad Max” and meth lab.
Farmers and ranchers who once made a living from the land seem to have only two career choices now: drugs or sex trafficking. As the movie opens, the Stones — a grizzled dad named Duke (James Russo) and his four sons, including ringleader Kyle (Bill Tangradi), loose-cannon Ned (Tyson Ritter), responsible Parker (Jonathan Rosenthal) and young, wet-behind-theears Billy (Will Brittain) — are in a Hatfields-andMcCoys-style feud with the neighboring Turners.
But they soon learn that there are bigger fish to be reeled in, namely carrying out a heist on a local brothel/sex-slave ring run by the nefarious Win (Michael Rhys Kan). Meanwhile, Billy just wants out of this kill-or-be-killed existence and yearns to run away with his girlfriend, Kayla (Natasha Bassett), Ned and is saved by Van (Callan Mulvey), a freelance cop of sorts who keeps order and rights wrongs — for a price. Vengeance isn’t cheap.
Directed and co-written by Frederick Cipoletti with crisp efficiency — and a love of old-fashioned fades and dissolves — “Desolate,” shot in inland California, radiates with a grimy, sun-baked energy. The performances are all solid, and it’s especially good to see leading Australian actor Mulvey (the TV series “Power” and “Underbelly”) getting some big-screen attention after small roles in the likes of “300: Rise of an Empire” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”).
“Desolate” is reminiscent in tone to last year’s
“The Standoff at Sparrow Creek,” another low-budget indie film about broken men living in broken times. Cipoletti proves himself as someone to watch.