The Sheltering Sky is a 1990 drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich.

The film is based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Paul Bowles (who appears in a cameo role) about a couple who journey to North Africa in the hopes of rekindling their marriage but soon fall prey to the dangers that surround them.

The story culminates with the man falling severely ill in a very remote area of the Sahara desert, from where the events turn catastrophic.

Port Moresby and his wife Kit are accompanied by their friend George Tunner on a trip that will take them deep into the Sahara Desert.

Port and Kit once again encounter the Lyles and are offered a ride in their car to Boucif, their next destination, but are informed that there is no room for Tunner.

Even after being informed by local officials that the passport can be recovered in Messad, Port decides to proceed by bus to El Ga'a with Kit in order to avoid a meeting with Tunner.

Kit transports the delirious Port to a French Foreign Legion post, but it has no doctor and she nurses him herself, becoming increasingly desperate at his condition.

The website's critics consensus reads: "The Sheltering Sky puts its talented stars at odds with a misguided and largely unsatisfying adaptation of potentially unfilmable source material.

"[3] Author Raj Chandarlapaty opines that Bertolucci's movie does a "remarkable job sweetening the picture of Belqassim for today's viewing audience", as opposed to the "erratic brutishness" of the novel's character.