Drama/Mex

Drama/Mex’s two interrelated tales are set to the backdrop of one depressing Mexican night. Whilst Fernanda (Diana Garcia) struggles to choose between her current life with Gonzalo (Juan Pablo Castaneda) and running away with vile ex-boyfriend Chino (Emilio Valdes), adolescent thief Tigrillo (Miriana Moro) strikes up an unlikely friendship with the middle-aged Jamie (Fernando Becerril), who has retired to a beachfront hotel to kill himself. These figures have little in common aside from a desire to escape, be it through a night-time tryst, a new acquaintance, or a bullet from a gun. Naranjo’s characters unevenly reflect his unrelentingly bleak vision of Acapulco; simultaneously abusive and frustratingly indecisive, their motivations are difficult to discern as the film sloppily skips from vignette to vignette as the protagonists fluctuate from joyous to suicidal, compassionate to downright nasty with no clear indication from the film’s unconvincing dialogue. Whilst visually striking, Drama/Mex ultimately appears as empty and meaningless as the lives it portrays.