Desire Review
Director: Teresa Simone
Date Created: 2026-07-17 22:38
1.5
Desire Review: Directed by Teresa Simone and written by Giulia Cardamone and Vanessa Miklos, Deseo stars Ludwika Paleta as Lucero, José María Yazpik as Fernando, Óscar Casas as Matías, Leonardo Ortizgris as Miguel, Matias Coronado as Julián, alongside Pilar Pascual, Ivana Salomón, Gabi Zamora, Jaydy Michel and others. The Netflix Mexican erotic thriller runs for 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Desire Review
Netflix has recently been producing a lot of erotic thrillers, and Mexican film Desire just follows the trend, failing to add something new to the plot. All the provocative marketing efforts of the producers do not hide the fact that the movie does not have much to say about the themes of desire, marriage, and obsessions. Instead of focusing on the emotions it raises, it provides viewers with explicit scenes and a weak story, which cannot keep their interest for long. There are some occasions when the movie seems promising and ready to become a good character study, but it always fails to do that.
Netflix movie Desire revolves around Lucero, a lawyer who is leading a life of a happy marriage. Little does she know that this marriage of hers has become monotonous. After she meets the charming coach of her daughter, Viviana, named Matías, their passion for each other turns out to be a deadly affair. While there are a number of secrets to be unveiled and a lot of complexity within the relationships, Lucero has now been left caught between passion, guilt, and the loss of her achievements.
The real letdown is that the emotional conflict of Lucero should have formed the core of this narrative. The start of the script provides an introduction to a couple who lack intimacy but do not make Lucero or Fernando the antagonists. This setup is quite intriguing since sometimes in life, the moment comes when it is easier to argue than to mend fences when it comes to emotions. Instead of exploring those fractures, the movie jumps ahead to the affair and expects me to believe that some stolen looks are all it takes for Lucero to jeopardise everything.
I have always doubted the chemistry between Lucero and Matías. Chemistry is meant to make crazy moves justifiable, although not entirely justified. In this case, the chemistry between the two seems a little bit mechanical. The fact that they went from being curious to obsessed so quickly, I never understood why each one found the other attractive. This is because the entire movie is dependent on this chemistry for its success.
Ludwika Paleta is by far the best thing about this movie. She tries to do everything she can to ensure that Lucero is conflicted, showing guilt quietly in many scenes, even though she has very few lines to do so from the screenplay. She conveys the fatigue of someone struggling to control a life that he or she is losing. The problem is that no matter how well an actor performs, it will not save an underdeveloped character.
Óscar Casas has the harder task since Matías’ traits change constantly according to the demands of the storyline. He first appears as mysterious and confident enough to be easily understood why Lucero is infatuated with him. However, with each new chapter of the story, the traits of Matías are totally different, hence making him less convincing with each new appearance. In addition, rather than growing, he simply becomes an element for creating conflict in the film. The same can be said about José María Yazpik, who portrays Fernando, who at times seems to be the most grounded person in the film.
The other significant problem with Netflix’s Mexican movie Desire is how the secondary characters are handled. It was expected that Viviana would be one of the emotional centres of the movie because her life has been affected by the affair, but she does not feel like a real person most of the time. The same can be said about Lucero’s son, who gets forgotten until he becomes relevant to the screenplay. Characters get introduced when the story needs additional trouble, but there are a few who get developed enough emotionally.
When we consider a movie that is labelled as an erotic thriller, it fails to achieve the two aspects of being one. While the erotic sequences in the film are quite graphic, there is no emotion conveyed in them at all. These sequences are more like time-outs from the story rather than adding something to the characters’ development. After the third or fourth such scene, I didn’t learn anything more about either Lucero or Matías.
As far as the thriller element goes, it’s not particularly stronger either. There are plenty of hints at an imminent disaster, yet most of the time you spend watching the characters exchanging looks, holding back secrets and enduring moments of uncomfortable silence. The build-up could have taken place organically, but instead, it seems like the scriptwriters confuse the concept of withholding information with making something suspenseful. There is a huge difference between the two terms.
From a visual standpoint, Netflix’s Desire is not too shabby. It looks good, has a few nicely-framed shots, but there are so many darkly lit shots that make watching them difficult. But most importantly, a good-looking film cannot hide the fact that there is nothing much underneath those visuals. Each time I saw something visually impressive, I knew the script had nothing more to say.
Perhaps what annoyed me more than anything else is the fact that this film almost had the potential to be good. The story of a woman who is struggling with feelings of dissatisfaction, married to a man whose marriage disintegrated through years of silence and living life in fantasy rather than talking about things, could have made for a good psychological story. But no, this film decides to take the easy way out.
Netflix Desire Review: Summing Up
Ultimately, the 2026 Desire movie is not so much a thriller as it is an extended set of erotic sequences linked by a poorly developed plot. Even though there is strong acting by Ludwika Paleta, the poor script, lack of chemistry between the characters, and poor characterisation make it impossible to care for the decisions made by anyone.
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