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"Still retains its power because its edges remain so strong." —Tomas Trussow, The Lonely Film Critic 

"Captures its surroundings and emotional complications with bittersweet beauty and lyricism; its examination of queer yearning and longing withstands the test of time as resilient as a cactus in the desolate desert." —Katie Duggan, Film Daze

"A gentle story of someone being brought in from the cold." —Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune

4K DCP Restoration

Donna Deitch's swooning and sensual first film, Desert Hearts, was groundbreaking upon its 1986 release: a love story about two women, produced and directed by a woman. In the 1959-set film, an adaptation of a beloved novel by Jane Rule, straitlaced East Coast professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) arrives in Reno to file for divorce, but winds up catching the eye of someone new, the younger free spirit Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), touching off a slow seduction that unfolds against the breathtaking desert landscape. With smoldering chemistry between its two leads, an evocative jukebox soundtrack, and vivid cinematography by Robert Elswit, Desert Hearts beautifully exudes a sense of tender yearning and emotional candor.