A slightly noir-like film that feels like an artsy version of a recent Lifetime endeavor. Yeah I'm talking about 2026's Desire or in Spanish terms, Deseo. Desire, well it's a product of Netflix, with some poor dubbing, some attractive leads, and a couple pseudo, steamy love scenes. So, do swim coaches really go from being Olympians in training to mentoring teenage girls at some random pool? And what exactly does Lucero's character's husband do for a living besides checking surveillance cameras at said pool? And uh, what's up with Lucero's geeky son, looking like an extra from 2014's Not Cool and blaring Linkin Park-style music through his headphones all day? Yikes.
Anyway Desire is helmed by rookie Teresa Simone, a filmmaker who projects Desire like a glossy love letter to good old Mexico City. She uses fill lighting, not much novelty, and some interesting camera angles to secure her vision even if her vision is modern-day softcore porn straight from the annals of say, 1979. "You wanna tell me anything." I thought I just did chief. I thought I just did.
Late 70s Caligula, CDMX tributes, and dark hues aside, Desire is well shot by Simone and the flick has a numbing, mysteriousness to it. I mean I could almost see a poor man's Oliver Martinez and a poor man's Diane Lane getting their total, Unfaithful on. The problem however is how Desire is edited (or not fully edited), making the viewer scratch his or her head over twists and turns that seem like convoluted, plot dead ends rather than effective plot threads. A Mexico-produced vehicle about a woman who cheats on her hubby with fallen pool boy only to dump said pool boy and then plan on offing the poor schlub. If Desire played it as a straight thriller like I just described, it probably would've held a little more water (pun intended). Burned out "desire."
Written by Jesse Burleson
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