"I just wanted to be desired again," says Lucero (Ludwika Paleta), a lawyer who starts an affair with a swimming coach named Matias (Óscar Casas). Lucero has been married to Fernando (José María Yazpik) for twenty "happy" years and has two kids, Julian (Matias Coronado) and Viviana (Pilar Pascual). The latter is a swimmer herself and develops a crush on Matias. In one scene, she takes off her towel and kisses the coach. Matias, of course, dismisses her advances immediately because he's intoxicated by the intense sex he gets from Lucero—an extreme state of horniness that he mistakes for love due to, well, hormones. Lucero, though, is very clear about her relationship with him: it's just fun, casual sex. She wouldn't have gotten into this illicit affair if Fernando had had the libido of a teenager. During Lucero and Fernando's anniversary party, the guests ask the couple for the secret to having a happy marriage. Desire ultimately reveals the answer to be good, passionate, consistent sex. Sex keeps a marriage healthy and fulfilling for years.
That's essentially what director Teresa Simone wants to convey through Desire (original title: Deseo). Let loose your hormones, shake the bed, and revel in the pleasurable, orgasmic sensations. Cheers to that. Still, by turning Matias into yet another obsessive, almost deranged villain, Desire undermines its own message by punishing Lucero for hooking up with someone young and physically attractive. Why do these erotic thrillers recycle this cliché? Why can't two people just make love? In Desire, anyway, no one is seriously affected by Lucero's sexual adventures. Spoilers ahead for those who care, but it's Fernando who ropes Matias in to satisfy his wife's "intimate desires." What's more, he doesn't seem to care much about them having a good time together. Still, Simone is either too creatively bankrupt to imagine how an affair like this might organically develop (which is why she turns Matias into a crazed blackmailer) or she, too, ultimately wants to preach the conservative notion that sex outside marriage is sinful—even if your sex life is dry or your partner has grown bored of you after all those years together.
Or maybe it's just me. I don't see why sex is so, um, "hyped." It's perfectly natural, isn't it? This is why I don't understand when movies like Desire make a mountain out of a molehill. They are nothing more than softcore porn-like films stuffed with third-rate drama to distinguish themselves from actual softcore porn (hehe, I am not really complaining). Most viewers will check in for only one thing, and I guess they'll leave...satisfied. But I wanted Simone to go crazy by making a Desire in which Lucero and Fernando commit murder to spice up their sex life. The suggestion is very much present in the ending. Simone, though, never exploits it. I am not sure she even notices it. Netflix is already jam-packed with bad-to-mediocre erotic thrillers; why not simply do something deliriously wild, weird, and batty? Desire is Simone's directorial debut. Why not arrive on the scene with an off-the-wall taste and sensibility? But alas, for a movie named Desire, it certainly leaves you dry and unfulfilled. Hey, at least Lucero's sex life is rekindled. At least someone ends on a note of ecstasy.
Final Score - [2.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times