Mojave Moon 1996

Al McCord is relaxing at his favorite restaurant when he meets an attractive young woman, Ellie, who is seeking a ride from the city into the Mojave Desert, where her mother Julie lives. Al finds himself drawn to the free-spirited Julie, even with the looming presence of her boyfriend Boyd, who seems ready to snap at any moment. As the day unfolds, a series of strange and unsettling events begin to unfold, and Al finds himself trying to piece together what is really happening, while trying to protect the growing bonds with Ellie and Julie.

In the desert, Al’s car develops a flat tire. When he opens the trunk, he discovers an apparent dead body—Ellie’s boyfriend, Kaiser—a detail he hadn’t known about before. He heads to a gas station for repairs and narrowly avoids trouble with a highway patrolman, but a confrontation at the station leads to a chaotic robbery attempt. The ensuing confusion gives Al a chance to slip away, unscathed, as the tension around Ellie’s presence intensifies.

Back at home, Ellie arrives again, followed soon after by Julie. Unbeknownst to Al, his car is being targeted for theft. The trio finds themselves pursued when Boyd arrives at a motel where they’ve taken shelter, and he forcibly escorts the women back toward Mojave, locking them in a shed for good measure. Desperate, Al and his friend Sal mount a rescue operation, but Boyd knocks them out before they can reach the women.

Kaiser, who is still alive, reaches Mojave and watches as Boyd drives off with Al, Sal, Julie, and Ellie tied on a truck. The plan unfolds as a dangerous attempt to flip the car over the edge of a quarry, but the group manages to escape unharmed. The dramatic pursuit ends with Boyd meeting a catastrophic end in a large explosion, leaving the others to pick up the pieces and move forward.

In the aftermath, Ellie returns to Los Angeles with Sal, while Al stays behind for the night with Julie, reflecting on the fragile line between chance encounter and the choices that define a life. The story lingers in a mood of uneasy romance, fractured trust, and the unpredictable pull of a desert set against ordinary, everyday settings.