Deserto do Ouro

Starts off well and ends disappointedly.

Zac is very good throughout the movie, it has a similar feel to Tom Hanks in Castaway.

Sadly there's no Wilson to keep Zan company.

The last 30 mins is a terribly slow burn.

Gold (2022) had a promising start and overall has demonstrated solid production value, although the washed-out look got old fast.

While the acting was perfectly fine, as it gets closer to the end, it starts to wear on you. This isn't really a human nature study, more like a semi-survival film full of stupid decisions. The only human trait here was greed. Nothing more than that. In a future like this, you would think people would've still bet on survival over pointless death.

The resolution is obvious from the start since this is what would happen in a real-life situation. They added a little "twist" at the end, but it barely connects, since it means nothing for the viewer or the characters, and rather solidifies the message the film is trying to push.

The whole story relies on our main character not being too bright, and it's fine. The problem is that we barely know anything about the world and the characters. Frankly, there are no characters going through arcs, people encounter problems in a not-so-bright future, and never change. This was probably intended, and probably realistic enough, but even a couple of flashbacks establishing motivations or attitudes would've been great. Especially since the acting was good.

As it is, Gold (2022) is an ok semi-survival film but feels very shallow and does not connect the viewer to what these "characters" are going through. There are also some things that make little sense, like why Virgil didn't just leave when he got the Stranger's loot. Since one can walk there on foot, he could've given it a try, it's not as a middle of nowhere as they said it was. I guess greed is an answer to anything in this, but the introductory scene (and the burial scene) suggested some sort of dignity or reliability in Virgil, soon to be gone, again, greed. Also, it is unclear when Keith got back since neither he nor the other Stranger was affected by the dust storm. I guess I'm nitpicking, but I'd still prefer Virgil to switch into survival mode at the end, there is greed, but people still have survival instincts.

Overall, the film leaves a bad taste, which is intended but feels empty on details, which is not. It's not long, but I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, more like 50/50.

The world in the near future is in trouble. A man (Zac Efron) rides the rails like a hobo. He gets driven to a job at the gold dig site. Along the way, they stumble upon a giant gold rock, but they are unable to dig it out with their limited tools. The man is left guarding the rock as the driver heads off for some heavy equipment.

Zac is going solo for long segments of this movie. In a way, it's his Cast Away. He does a fine job as his character deteriorates. A few plot points do bug me. When he is left alone initially, I felt something is off with the plan. The Stranger felt too aggressive. I almost assumed that she's a hallucination. I don't know why he's so protective of her body. Let the dogs have it. Finally, there is the arrow. I would rather not have the arrow. It's more sweetly dark to let the man have his reward. All in all, this is a fine effort from Zac and it's an interesting little indie.

However, despite the excellent effort and story ,it, in my mind was unsatisfying.

The bleak decolourised washed out look is a bit of a cliche these days and made it visually bland, especially in the kind of landscapes it was filmed in. That was the intention I suppose, but The Good , the Bad and the Ugly desert scenes ( in colour) were far more effective in conveying mood and intensity.

Not a commercial movie and might only appeal to males, solitary, alienated desert freaks.

Just an opinion.

I'm a big fan of man alone in space kind of sci Fi movies and while this wasn't a sci Fi it definitely had the feel of one of those movies.

It's slow but I was kept interested the whole time and the suspense was present the entire movie with some space in between to let you breathe when appropriate.

I was very glad I watched it and will recommend it to my friends to watch. Good story. Great ending.