As Halloween approaches, streaming services are showcasing a variety of horror offerings. There’s something for everyone, from gore to more “elevated” attempts by emerging filmmakers to reinvent the genre. Tucked away on the fringes of this cinematic bazaar is “Dust,” a new Hulu project starring “American Horror Story” veteran Sarah Paulson, whose role selection once again falters. Also taking on producing duties, Paulson embodies yet another “woman under the influence” – a mother of two grappling with a harsh environmental reality.
Sarah Paulson in “Dust”
Set in Oklahoma, 1933, the film plunges us into the heart of the “Dust Bowl,” a period of devastating dust storms that ravaged the United States and Canada. Margaret (Paulson), a resilient settler, single-handedly manages her farm while raising her daughters, Rose (Amia Miller) and Ollie (Aliona Jane Robbins), and awaiting her husband’s return from the North. Having lost her third child to scarlet fever, Margaret is fiercely protective of her family. But death arrives in the form of the ominous Grey Man, a spectral figure from a children’s book who begins to haunt the family. Adding to their woes is Wallace (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), a stranger who claims to heal all ailments and know the family’s absent father.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach in “Dust”
The film’s protagonists are completely isolated. Their pastimes are limited to reading and crocheting (the latter becoming a crucial and disturbing element in one scene). Wallace seems poised to replace the girls’ father and Margaret’s husband, but what are his true intentions, and is he even real? “Dust” is directed by the indie filmmaking duo Carrie Crew and Will Joines (“Westworld”). The screenplay was featured on the annual “Black List” of best unproduced screenplays, but the final product lacks originality or ingenuity. Within a compact 90 minutes, the film crams in a haunted house, Southern Gothic atmosphere, and a collection of predictable twists, red herrings, and jump scares that have plagued the horror genre. Crew and Joines struggle with this multi-faceted approach, resulting in a rudimentary exploration of the psychological and emotional aspects. Viewers will inevitably draw comparisons to “The Shining,” “The Others,” and countless other examples of cinematic claustrophobia. Battling dust both inside and outside her home, Margaret descends further into paranoia, simultaneously protecting and suspecting her daughters of betrayal, longing for her husband, and threatening Wallace, ultimately reaching a state of near-unconsciousness.
Sarah Paulson in “Dust”
Paulson, dubbed the “scream queen” by her fans, continues to gravitate toward similar projects in both television and film. The Ryan Murphy universe alumna previously portrayed an obsessive mother in the lackluster thriller “Run” (2021), another forgettable Hulu release. In “Dust,” Paulson changes costumes but continues to theatrically portray despair and other facets of a fractured identity. Despite these shortcomings, the actress remains the best aspect of this vague and superficial film, where the killer is always within, and the ultimate victim is the viewer who wastes their time.