Private Desert: every once in a while comes along a story that feels right for its time. Such is the case with Aly Muritiba’s delicate romantic drama, with its tagline “a love story in times of unlove”, or more broadly, of tolerance in times of intolerance. The film smartly doesn’t try to explain things that aren’t rational. Making a journey that is as much within as it is without, Antonio Saboia, as a disgraced policeman but sensitive man, is quite good. Pedro Fasanaro, as another crucial character with a life filled with pain, is equally good. The performances are delicate, subdued. Cinematographer Luis Armando Arteaga shoots the story with a neutral, elegant camera in mostly long takes, always finding a good framing to include his subjects. The editing and the story find a touching and effective use of a Bonnie Tyler standard, and the original score by composer Felipe Ayres has some beautiful moments as well.