‘Dark Desire’: Netflix thriller feels like Mexican version of ‘You’ with Joe and Dario sharing similar traits
Spoilers for ‘Dark Desire’ or ‘Oscuro Deseo’
Netflix’s new Mexican erotic thriller series ‘Dark Desire’ or ‘Oscuro Deseo’ has found a curious comparison with another Netflix series -- an American one -- Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble’s psychological thriller, ‘You’.
‘Dark Desire’ or ‘Oscuro Deseo’ focuses on Alma Solares (Maite Perroni), a prestigious lawyer and college professor, who makes a big mistake one night when she’s visiting a friend. Married to Leonardo Solares (Jorge Poza), a powerful judge in Mexico, Alma is an unhappy woman after 20 years of being together. It doesn’t help that she suspects her husband of infidelity.
And once you mix this toxic concoction with a young, handsome, and charming man, some (lots of) alcohol, and an air heavy with sexual tension, you get an affair that is designed to bring the story to its starting point. Alejandro Speitzer’s Dario and Alma enjoy a night of passion, and the latter, predictably, wakes up to regret in the cold light of the day.
But what happens next is not what she planned. For one, Dario turns out to be a student of hers. For another, she discovers that her husband was not being unfaithful. Add to that, there is the murder (that’s been presumed to be a suicide) of her oldest friend. And finally, there’s the fact that Leonardo’s ex-policeman brother Esteban (Erik Hayser) knows about the indiscretion.
This sounds nothing like ‘You’, that stars Penn Badgley as the artfully creepy Joe Goldberg. So why the comparison? The visible reason is that this story’s villain is almost as skilled a stalker as Joe. Dario, it would seem, is unable to let go of Alma. Well, she has a difficult time as well. She keeps going back to him against her better judgment. But It’s Dario who is behaving badly.
He stalks her online profiles. He develops a close friendship with her 18-year-old daughter Zoe, played by Regina Pavón. He even follows her around, and on one horrifying occasion, spies on Alma and Leonardo in bed in their hotel room. Dario, if not worse, is almost as bad as Joe, who as fans of ‘You’ would recall, is a master of manipulation.
Dario, in a similar fashion, knows his subject in and out. He knows where she would be. He knows what she likes and he definitely does meticulous research for all of this, which would remind anyone of the pains Joe took for making Guinevere (Elizabeth Lail) fall in love with him. But there is still a whole world of difference there.
While Dario has the air of a confident, assertive man around him -- he has been exceptionally assertive with Alma all throughout, almost making her dance at the snap of a finger -- Joe’s persona made it more of a task for him to make someone fall in love with him. Add to that, with his inner monologue plainly audible to all, his attempts had an air of pathetic desperation; something Dario’s looks and attitude clearly negates, even if his actions speak otherwise.
And yet, at its essence, it can very well be called a take on ‘You’. Because, ultimately, it is a scary story in the same regard. It shows that the sky is the limit when it comes to a kind of fatal attraction that’s always portrayed in thrillers, but never fully explored. Dario stops at nothing just like Joe and Dario has a single-minded focus.
Is ‘Dark Desire’ or ‘Oscuro Deseo’ as creepy as ‘You’? Not at all. But does it speak to the same ideas? Most definitely.
‘Dark Desire’ or ‘Oscuro Deseo’ is available for watching on Netflix.
