# Mojave (film)
**Mojave** is a 2015 American psychological thriller written and directed by William Monahan, starring [Garrett Hedlund](https://www.edgepedia.org/garrett-hedlund) as a suicidal Los Angeles artist and [Oscar Isaac](https://www.edgepedia.org/oscar-isaac) as a homicidal drifter he encounters in the [Mojave Desert](https://www.edgepedia.org/mojave-desert). The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2015, and received a limited theatrical release from A24 in January 2016; it earned mixed-to-negative reviews and a worldwide box office total of $8,602.[1](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2159385-mark-wahlberg-oscar-isaac-thriller-mojave-leaving-netflix/xwp_curated_content) • [2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2322517/) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mojave/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Written and directed by | William Monahan, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of *The Departed*[4](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/88315-william-monahan-to-direct-mojave) |
| Starring | Garrett Hedlund (Tom/Thomas), Oscar Isaac (Jack), Mark Wahlberg (Norman), Louise Bourgoin, Walton Goggins[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70465-MOJAVE) |
| Premiere | Tribeca Film Festival, April 18, 2015 (Spotlight section, world premiere)[1](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2159385-mark-wahlberg-oscar-isaac-thriller-mojave-leaving-netflix/xwp_curated_content) • [6](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/mojave-2015) |
| Theatrical release | United States January 22, 2016 (A24); United Kingdom March 25, 2016[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2322517/) |
| Box office | $8,602 worldwide: $8,253 domestic (95.9%) and $349 in the United Kingdom (4.1%)[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2322517/) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic score 41/100 from 23 critics; Rotten Tomatoes 31% from 71 reviews[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mojave/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mojave_2016) |
| Technical details | 93 minutes, rated R, cinematography by Don Davis, music by Andrew Hewitt[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70465-MOJAVE) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Thomas (Garrett Hedlund), a brilliant but near-suicidal artist, leaves his privileged life and drives into the Mojave Desert, where at a campfire he meets a drifter named Jack (Oscar Isaac). Jack, who describes himself as a man who "falls upon travelers," threatens Thomas, who retaliates and leaves with Jack's rifle. The next morning Thomas, hiding in a cave, mistakes a police officer for Jack and accidentally shoots him, a killing that Jack witnesses.[8](https://a24films.com/films/mojave/) • [9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/mojave)
Jack then follows Thomas back to Los Angeles, where he learns of Thomas's notoriety as an artist and remakes his own identity in pursuit of him, leading to a violent duel between the two men.[8](https://a24films.com/films/mojave/) A24's synopsis describes the film as a "classical, cerebral thriller" about a duel of physical and intellectual equals, moving from the desert to a noir Los Angeles.[8](https://a24films.com/films/mojave/) Reviewers noted the film's ambiguity about whether Jack is real or a figment of Thomas's imagination.[10](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mojave)
## Production
Atlas Independent, an affiliate of Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment, announced the project in March 2012 as Monahan's original thriller, with production planned to begin in August 2012 in [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california).[4](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/88315-william-monahan-to-direct-mojave) In December 2012 the producers announced that Oscar Isaac and [Jason Clarke](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-clarke) would star, with production set for the first quarter of 2013; Clarke does not appear in the finished film's credited cast.[11](https://www.thewrap.com/oscar-isaac-jason-clarke-join-william-monahans-mojave-feature-67881/) • [5](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70465-MOJAVE)
The film was produced by William Monahan, Aaron L. Ginsburg, William Green, and Justine Suzanne Jones for Atlas Independent, Henceforth Pictures, and MICA Entertainment, with [Don Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-davis) as cinematographer, John David Allen as editor, and Andrew Hewitt composing the score.[5](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70465-MOJAVE) • [6](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/mojave-2015) Relativity International handled international sales.[6](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/mojave-2015)
## Release and box office
*Mojave* had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2015.[1](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2159385-mark-wahlberg-oscar-isaac-thriller-mojave-leaving-netflix/xwp_curated_content) A24 released it in the United States on January 22, 2016, opening to $3,303 and grossing $8,253 domestically; the United Kingdom release on March 25, 2016 added $349, for a worldwide total of $8,602.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2322517/) The film later streamed on Netflix before leaving that platform on August 1, 2026.[1](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2159385-mark-wahlberg-oscar-isaac-thriller-mojave-leaving-netflix/xwp_curated_content)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to negative. On Metacritic the film scored 41 out of 100 from 23 critics, with 6 positive, 8 mixed, and 9 negative reviews; the user score was 4.8 from 11 ratings.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mojave/) Rotten Tomatoes recorded 31% on the Tomatometer from 71 reviews and 30% from audiences, with a critics consensus calling the film "a frustrating missed opportunity" despite its talent.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mojave_2016)
Reviewers divided over the dialogue-heavy script. [Richard Roeper](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roeper) of the *Chicago Sun-Times* gave it 100, writing that the film "soars on the strength of the screenplay" and praising Isaac's "relatively quiet and sublime" performance.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mojave/) *Time* called it a "wicked noir comedy" whose real reason for existing is Monahan's "wiry, woolly dialogue," and highlighted [Mark Wahlberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-wahlberg)'s turn as a coked-out movie executive.[12](https://time.com/4188330/mojave-humor-as-dark-and-bitter-as-a-burnt-espresso/) Negative reviews criticized the tonal mixture: IndieWire found the neo-western and dark-sature elements did not mesh, the *A.V. Club* called the film "inert and logorrheic," and *Variety* argued Monahan assumed too much audience sympathy for a "sour, prickly narcissist."[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mojave/) The *Harvard Crimson* found Hedlund's performance unexpressive while crediting Isaac's "manic eccentricity" with the film's few redemptive moments.[13](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/2/mojave-film-2016/)
## References
1. [Oscar Isaac & Mark Wahlberg's Forgotten Thriller To Exit Netflix Soon, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2159385-mark-wahlberg-oscar-isaac-thriller-mojave-leaving-netflix/xwp_curated_content)
2. [Mojave (2015), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2322517/)
3. [Mojave Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mojave/)
4. [William Monahan to Direct Mojave, ComingSoon.net (March 23, 2012)](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/88315-william-monahan-to-direct-mojave)
5. [Mojave (2016), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70465-MOJAVE)
6. [Mojave, 2015 Tribeca Festival](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/mojave-2015)
7. [Mojave, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mojave_2016)
8. [Mojave, A24 Films](https://a24films.com/films/mojave/)
9. [Mojave Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/mojave)
10. [Mojave 2015 review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mojave)
11. [Oscar Isaac, Jason Clarke Join William Monahan's 'Mojave' Feature, TheWrap (December 4, 2012)](https://www.thewrap.com/oscar-isaac-jason-clarke-join-william-monahans-mojave-feature-67881/)
12. [Review: Mojave Serves Up Bleak Comedy, Time (January 21, 2016)](https://time.com/4188330/mojave-humor-as-dark-and-bitter-as-a-burnt-espresso/)
13. ['Mojave' Comes up Cold, The Harvard Crimson (February 2, 2016)](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/2/mojave-film-2016/)
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