Deep Crimson (1996) Reviews

Noted Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein directed this darkly comic drama of love and murder. Coral Fabre (Regina Orozco) is an overweight, emotionally unstable nurse raising two children on her own. Coral is desperately lonely, and through a "Lonely Hearts" club, she begins corresponding with Nicolas Estrella (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). When Coral finally meets Nicolas, she decides that he resembles her favorite actor, Charles Boyer (at least when he wears his toupee) -- and is convinced that they were destined to be together. The fact that Nicolas stole Coral's money after spending the night together does nothing to dissuade her; she learns that Nicolas makes his living by finding rich women and, using his charm, taking their savings before abandoning them. Leaving her children with an orphanage, Coral joins Nicolas as his lover and partner in crime, posing as his sister as he continues his work. Nicolas finds Coral's passion for him exciting, but their amour fou turns deadly when Coral's all-consuming jealousy leads her to murder Nicolas' victims. Profundo Carmesi was based on the true story of American multiple murderers Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, which also inspired the film The Honeymoon Killers (1969). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi