Gold (2022)

Gold is a lean, sun-blasted pressure cooker of a thriller that turns one impossible find into a brutal test of endurance, paranoia, and human nature. Anthony Hayes shoots the desert like an indifferent god—beautiful, vast, and quietly murderous—while the sound and stillness ratchet the tension until every shadow and distant movement feels like a threat. Zac Efron, carrying much of the film almost alone, gives a physically committed performance that makes you feel the heat, the thirst, and the creeping suspicion in your own bones. It’s not for viewers who need constant action or a chatty plot, but if you like survival stories with stark atmosphere and a mean, gripping edge, this one sticks with you.

Gold is trying to be a lean, sun-blasted survival thriller and a simple morality tale about greed, with Zac Efron giving it everything he’s got physically and emotionally. The problem is the film’s minimalism often feels less like restraint and more like thin material stretched out, so the pacing can drag and the beats start to repeat long before the tension truly escalates. If you need rich character work, plot turns, or a world that feels fully lived-in, this may come off as obvious and a bit empty. But if you’re up for a harsh, grim endurance watch that’s more about atmosphere and suffering than story, there’s enough raw commitment and desert dread to keep you engaged.