Julia has no direction and, therefore, no all-encompassing need to drive the story. This is one of many problems in adapting a book to screen. Chronology is another dilemma. Director Gillies MacKinnon crams his setting with sensory overload. The desert becomes a fifth character.
Dust rises like eraser bloom on a chalkboard.
Dunes drift like leaves. The film is flawed but beautiful. That's why the happy ending feels so tragic, like a Christmas present filled with clothes that no longer fit.