Dark Desire: Season 1 – Netflix Review

DARK DESIRE is a new Netflix series from Mexico. We’re dealing with a thriller, crime, mystery hybrid. And yes, there is also plenty of desire as revealed by the title of this series. Along the lines of You but also very different. Read our Dark Desire Season 1 review here!

DARK DESIRE is a Netflix series from Mexico. If you’ve watched the trailer, then you’ll know it’s a thriller, crime, mystery hybrid with lots of sensualism. The title pretty much gives away as much! And yes, it does also have a vibe along the lines of You.

You might like: Our season 2 review of You here >

However, where You had some dark humor, Dark Desire is just dark and has a lot of sensual scenes. Think more along the lines of Fifty Shades of Grey or the Netflix series 365 Days. In other words, don’t expect a Mexican version of You. Still, fans of one series should certainly enjoy the other as well since the dark and creepy vibe is still prevalent.

Continue reading our Dark Desire season 1 review below.

A Netflix telenovela

No, this isn’t really a telenovela in the classic sense, but it does utilize many of the elements known from telenovelas. Or even just regular American soap operas. This includes everyone being very passionate and dramatic about virtually everything. People having affairs left and right.

Also, secrets. So many secrets! And somehow everyone seems to be connected in various obscure ways.

And why not? This is pure unbridled entertainment for adults. Just shut off your brain and enjoy the craziness. If you don’t, I doubt this will be much fun for you. To me, it’s just a bit too much of everything without much depth. You’ll guess many of the plot twists (since they’re often telenovela or soap opera tropes), though there are also surprises along the way.

To each their own…

I cannot say anything bad about the acting or the very impressive production quality. Just as we’ve come to expect from Netflix productions. Everything looks great and the audio and visuals are top-notch. As such, Dark Desire is absolutely worthy of becoming the success, it probably will be!

Personally, I just feel myself getting distracted and tired after a few episodes, so it isn’t really for me.

I want my thriller series to be darker and my telenovelas to be campier. Dark Desire is certainly dark and brutal at times. However, for me, it doesn’t go all the way. Which is also fine, but then I need the campy vibe to create some sort of balance.

You know, the kind that made a thriller series such as Revenge work. In other words, we need a real diva, front and center, and a villain that is totally over the top. Instead of getting this, Dark Desire goes the “erotic romance” way, which is certainly another way to go.

Watch Dark Desire Season 1 on Netflix now!

Dark Desire was created by Leticia López Margalli who has worked on various TV series and movies in Mexico already. She co-wrote the movie Las Aparicio (2015) which was based on the very successful TV series that began in 2010. She also wrote the pilot episode of the series.

Season 1 of Dark Desire (org. title Oscuro Deseo) has 18 episodes. Obviously, this sounds like a lot, however, each episode is around the 30 minutes mark. Or actually, 30-40 minutes. Also, yes, the story drags out a bit and has a lot of flashbacks. Still, there is also a lot to unpack and it’s done so in a classic telenovela style.

Basically, you’ll have a lot of drama and passion, but also blood, violence, and various crimes to uncover. Dark Desire should work really well as fun entertainment for many. For me, it’s way too heavy-handed on the steamy scenes (which keep returning as flashbacks), but I can certainly understand why people will get hooked on it.

Season 1 of Dark Desire is out on Netflix worldwide from July 15, 2020.

Details

Creator: Leticia López Margalli
Cast: Magali Boysselle, Paulina Matos, Samantha Orozco, Claudia Pineda, Regina Pavón