The emptiness of the old West allowed many to start a new life. This became the critical idea behind westward expansion throughout the 1800s, and eventually, some found the happiness they craved. Catching Dust, the debut narrative feature from Stuart Gatt follows a couple trying to reinvent themselves. However, when new neighbors are dropped in the remote desert where they live, the couple frays at the seams. The secrets they hold may prove dangerous if their new neighbors were to discover the truth.
Catching Dust Plot Summary
Living out on the fringes of the desert, Clyde (Jai Courtney) and Geena (Erin Moriarty) continually fight. Geena believes Clyde took her power to express herself by moving them away from society. In doing so, he disrupts everything about her life, and their love cannot sustain her needs. Clyde worries about their safety when a new couple is dropped across the road from their Texas hideaway. However, Geena hopes that Andy (Ryan Corr) and Amaya (Dina Shihabi), might provide her a chance to start over once again.
Isolation From Society in Catching Dust
Gatt drops us into the emptiness of the old West early on in the story, and doing so allows us to feel Geena’s loneliness. Gatt comes back to this theme repeatedly throughout Catching Dust, highlighting that isolation can not only be literal but figurative within a relationship. The mere proximity to others does not fix the ache we feel when the connection has disappeared. Instead, Gatt’s characters find themselves at a crossroads, with one unwilling to give up their love while the other feels trapped by circumstance.
The combination of the two extremes does not only exist within the Clyde and Geena relationship. In fact, Andy and Amaya seem even more disconnected from the start. They hide their own secret, but the choice to leave New York for the deserts of Texas carries its suspicion. Amaya appears glossy-eyed at times, struggling to keep composure because of something in their background. Meanwhile, Andy immediately reaches out for Geena, showing the absence of something in his relationship with Amaya may upset the delicate balance at play.
Catching Dust borrows the basic structure of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but ties in Western tropes into the story. Yes, both couples appear broken, and in some instances, they find comfort with members of the other relationship. However, there’s hope backed into each character that does not exist in Albee’s story, and the slow-burn pacing does not allow for the quick-witted aspects of the story to translate.
Instead, long takes and deafening silences exist in Gatt’s tale of marriage and broken relationships. At times, these overstretched sequences grind the tale to a halt. A final coda on the story also feels unnecessary, despite clarifying some narrative aspects. Catching Dust is not an overly long film, but it sometimes feels like one.
Catching Dust features Jai Courtney’s best work.
For the many roles that Courtney has stepped into over the last two decades, he’s struggled to connect with mainstream audiences. Despite many blockbusters in his stable, including Suicide Squad and Live Free or Die Hard, Courtney never became a household name. Yet Catching Dust offers some hope, with the quiet, brooding actor delivering his most compelling work. There’s a lot going on in his subtle performance; frankly, it feels like a perfect direction for him. One cannot help but imagine Courtney in a Taylor Sheridan series after Catching Dust, partly because Gatt gets the best kind of cowboy performance out of him.
Moriarty’s performance is a little up and down. At times, she taps into the desperation we would expect from a woman trapped way from the world. At others, she seems too eager to jump into plans run by others. A sequence in town perfectly illustrates the character’s need for power but her unwillingness to take the steps to take it. It’s an emotionally complex beat that Moriarty nails and makes it obvious why she would take the role in the first place.
Unfortunately, the writing does not always live up to the key performances. Corr feels flat for most of the movie. That stems from an overly telegraphed arc in the screenplay and Corr overplaying his squirrely behavior. Shihabi creates some excellent moments but is too one-note on the page. Finally, a reveal in the last act feels incredibly unnecessary, and the actress pulled into the role borders on distraction. While Gatt gives some performers some excellent material, Catching Dust is inconsistent enough to leave us wanting more.
Is Catching Dust worth watching?
If you’re a fan of Westerns and have the patience for a slow-burn relationship drama, Catching Dust hits the right sensors. However, many will tune out from the get-go. Courtney and Moriarty showcase surprising range, but it’s Gatt who proves the most in Catching Dust. He handles a small crew with poise and decent enough pacing to suggest Westerns might be a great fit for him in the future.
6/10
Watch Catching Dust in theaters on August 23, 2024. Vertical Entertainment distributes.
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