Most of us have been ghosted on the apps at some point or another. It sucks. But what’s often forgotten is that there’s a real person on the other side of the conversation, one whose life you have yet to fully understand—no matter how many flirty messages you’ve exchanged.
That’s the central crux of Private Desert, the queer romantic drama from filmmaker Aly Muritiba that was Brazil’s official Academy Awards submission for Best International Feature Film last year.
The story opens on Daniel (Bacurau‘s Antonio Saboia), a man at the end of his rope who is caring for his elderly father while the future of his job at the police academy hangs in the balance. The one thing keeping him going is his long-distance relationship with Sara, a woman he’s never met but has engaged in a healthy—and intimate—conversation with over text for some time now.
Then one day, Sara ghosts him. Distraught and with nothing left to lose, Daniel makes the decision to drive hundreds of miles across Brazil to find her.
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It’s at this point that Private Desert shifts perspectives to Sara (Pedro Fasanaro) who—if you watch the trailer, we’re not spoiling anything here—is a nonbinary person, presenting as their male identity, Robson, by day. Though the film resists labels, we learn that Sara is a facet of Robson’s gender experimentation, and Daniel’s arrival threatens to upset the delicate balance of her life.
Related: Brazilian actor comes out at his film’s premiere, reveals he’s dating his childhood BFF
A moving and romantic meditation on masculinity, Private Desert is yet another boldly thought-provoking queer film to come out of Brazil, where a vibrant LGBTQ community lives under an increased threat of danger. That the film was selected as the country’s official Oscar selection only proves its power and urgency.
Oh, and apparently Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” plays a prominent role—that song’s always welcome in our book!
Private Desert premiered last fall at the Venice Film Festival, and has played the international festival circuit over the past year. Now, arthouse distributor Kino Lorber is bringing the feature to U.S. theaters—first to New York City on August 26, then to Los Angeles on September 9, with select other cities to follow.
michellepfeiffer
This looks beautiful and intriguing
bachy
Gotta confess this looks SUPER-HOTTT.
Kangol2
This looks really fascinating.
Not only Brazil’s but the US’s LGBTQ communities are “under an increased threat of danger,” thanks to the anti-LGBTQ extremists and the homophobic and transphobic RepubliQanon Party!