What is the significance about setting and/or place in your chosen American films?

In both Badlands and Natural Born Killers (NBK) the setting plays a large role in the representation of the characters and the narrative. Oliver Stone who directed NBK used the desert as a connotation of freedom amongst the lovers which is a common feature of the 'Lovers on the lam sub-genre'. The use of desert and wilderness is also used in Terrance Malick's Badlands for the same reasons. One of the genres of this sub-genre is 'Road'; the fact that they're on the road and have no grounded place or home shows they feel they should not abide by normal rules and that they're different.
The setting is particularly important in the scene in which Micky and Mallory turn off the road. There are shots of desert animals such as wolves and snakes which is a symbolism of Mickey and Mallory's true mindset. There is a tilt shot of Mickey as he is vomiting from taking magic mushrooms, it starts from his shoes that have snakes on them. The snakes are a connotation of evil and sickness due to their common green colour. As it tilts up to his face we see they're in a very wide and open space, almost as if they're abandoned or lost there.