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The engrossing second volume of Miguel Gomes's Arabian Nights trilogy, 'The Desolate One', takes a comparatively sombre approach to its stories as Scheherazade continues her narration. The tales of eccentricity and majesty in the opening episode are replaced by grounded, if still surreal, studies of life. 'The Desolate One' finds a fugitive becoming a hero of the common people as he evades the authorities and indulges in sordid behaviour. The film then stares into the enigmatic heart of the justice system as a judge presides over an increasingly complex and inexplicable case. Finally, in the Cannes Palm Dog award-winning sequence, Dixie, a Maltese poodle, traverses between the lives of different residents in a Portuguese apartment complex.