Twentynine Palms

Director: Bruno Dumont

2003 / 119min / DCP

Greeted by violently divisive reactions on its initial release, Dumont’s first and to-date only English-language film follows a Los Angeleno couple—an American photographer, David, and his unemployed Russo-French partner, Katia (David Wissak and Katerina Golubeva)—as they fuck like minks at their desert motel room, scour Joshua Tree in search of locations for a photoshoot, and go through a cycle of increasingly acrimonious arguments and reconciliations. Defined by Dumont as an “experimental horror film,” Twentynine Palms is a masterclass in creating mounting suspense through the most minimal of means, its explosive climax sure to leave a stain on your brainpan.

Part of Visionary Auteurs: Five Decades of mk2