Being caught in a hopeless state of affairs, and a location that has no different human in sight for miles, could make somebody determined sufficient to take excessive motion. Catching Mud, written and directed by Stuart Gatt, hinges on this premise. Whereas it performs into sure expectations concerning characters and their relationships, the movie is a desert drama brimming with rigidity that’s wound so tight it may snap at any second. It performs its playing cards proper for probably the most half, constructing suspense and creating intriguing character dynamics, regardless that its focus will get too caught up within the climactic ending greater than the rest.
Catching Mud begins with Clyde (Jai Courtney), a tough, emotionally distant man who’s hiding out within the Texas desert, taking a gun right into a neighbor’s cellular house. A gunshot is heard from inside, a scream echoes within the distance, but it surely’s unclear who was shot. The movie goes again in time, then, introducing Clyde’s spouse Geena (Erin Moriarty), an artist who’s stifled by the remoted life she leads. She was informed it was a short lived state of affairs, and Geena’s frustration was evident in each controlling motion Clyde takes. He gained’t let her go into city, doesn’t give her any solutions concerning their keep, and used to hit Geena. Clyde, for his half, is stoic and paranoid. So you possibly can think about that he doesn’t take it nicely when a rich New York couple, Andy (Ryan Corr) and Amaya (Dina Shihabi, who is superb), who’ve not too long ago suffered a loss, arrive on the now-empty commune hoping for a reset.
Watching the story unfold is like ready for the opposite shoe to drop. Clyde is chilly, however he’s additionally one of many extra fascinating characters. Maybe it’s the way in which he’s written with a bit extra depth, and Jai Courtney actually sells the gruff, considerably misplaced demeanor, carrying himself with an assuredness regardless of being a jumpy man who’s at all times checking what’s behind him. Whereas the opposite characters, specifically Andy and Amaya, aren’t given as a lot, and their dynamic is a case of insinuations relatively than precise growth. It’s additionally simple to see the place Geena is coming from contemplating her life is so cage-like, and although there are a couple of clichés wrapped into her story, Erin Moriarty is charming within the position, conveying Geena’s hopelessness, trepidation, and the will to depart by any means crucial.
That Geena and Clyde are extra well-rounded as characters makes Andy and Amaya appear hole by comparability. That stated, it’s the characters’ exchanges that elevate the movie and switch the story right into a extra compelling one. They distinction each other, however additionally they share similarities regardless of their socioeconomic statuses. All of them use one another in a technique or one other, although Clyde approaches Andy and Amaya with paranoia, his brute, stand-offish nature turning him right into a terrifying pressure that’s extra apparent than Andy’s polished exterior, which hides a whole lot of darkness as nicely.
Catching Mud has an ideal buildup, leaning closely into the suspense of the inevitable stand-off between the characters. The ending continues to be abrupt, nonetheless, and there’s a definite feeling that the movie cuts corners to get to an ending that has been pushed from the start, however almost abandons the slow-burn growth that got here earlier than. The movie’s finale doesn’t derail it, but it surely does make the story a bit much less fascinating. The preliminary give attention to the hopelessness and despair, grief and lack of independence and management was greater than sufficient to hold the story to its ending. Nonetheless, Catching Mud has items in place to make for an interesting, fascinating watch, particularly when its focus is on the 2 {couples} and the way they have interaction with one another.
Catching Mud screened on the 2023 Tribeca Movie Competition. The movie is 96 minutes lengthy and isn’t but rated.