Cactus

Written and directed by Jasmine Yuen Carrucan, Cactus follows Travis McMahon’s John as he abducts David Lyons’ Eli and drives off into the desert for reasons that initially remain vague – with the film subsequently detailing the pair’s exploits on a barren stretch of highway. There’s little doubt that Cactus opens with a fair degree of promise, as Carrucan establishes an atmosphere of palpable grittiness that’s heightened by the strong performances (and also by Bryan Brown’s all-too-brief appearance as an offbeat police officer). The unapologetically plotless vibe is, as a result, not as problematic as one might’ve anticipated, with the compelling nature of the central mystery – ie why has Eli been kidnapped? – sustaining the viewer’s interest even through the movie’s overtly uneventful stretches. It’s only as the film crawls into its almost oppressively spare midsection that Cactus begins to test one’s patience, as Carrucan simply goes too far in emphasizing mood and ambiance over exposition and dialogue – although, to be fair, the filmmaker does offer up an impressively suspenseful sequence involving a hapless truck driver and The Wiggles. The movie’s place as a lamentably misguided piece of work is cemented with the inclusion of a last-minute twist that’s more confusing than anything else, and there’s ultimately no getting around the fact that Cactus feels like a short that’s been awkwardly expanded to feature length.

*1/2 out of ****