‘Dying Briefly’ takes itself too seriously — but it’s so bad, it’s good

The so-bad-its-good drama “Dying Briefly,” now available on demand, is set within a Mexican dance company. This film may be more clumsy than graceful in depicting the personal and professional lives of its characters, but that is what makes it so juicy.

Director Juan Briseño wants his film to be an operatic romantic triangle where two boyfriends, Arsenio (Joan Kuri) and Sebastián (Martin Saracho), compete to please Mikael (Mikael Lacko), their new choreographer, and earn the position of the company’s premier danseur. Can their relationship survive professional jealousy?

The pacing is off from the onset. In the first ten minutes, the guys make eyes at each other at an audition, share stories about why they dance, almost kiss, and then — a few scenes later — are moving in together and having hot sex. In the middle of this, there is an inexplicable sequence where Sebastián’s dancer friend explains she enjoys letting men rub up against her in the subway.

There are other baffling moments, such as an episode where Sebastián takes Arsenio to a screening of a film he made with Luciano (Ernesto Coronel), the current premier danseur in the company. The film-within-a-film, a variation on “Swan Lake” with bizarre special effects, is actually Briseño’s 2016 short, “Rotbart,” which costarred Coronel and Saracho. It seems to serve little purpose here other than to showcase the director’s earlier work.

Meanwhile, Mikael, who smokes like a chimney and sports a pair of skull rings to show he is evil, intimidates the company. First, he kicks out a female dancer for her chubby body, then he strips Luciano of his role as premier danseur, which prompts a curious scene of Luciano’s self-loathing in a mirror. Mikael also flirts with Sebastián by telling the young dancer how much he reminds him of Saint Sebastian, foreshadowing an act of martyrdom, perhaps. Mikael touches Sebastián inappropriately during rehearsals, but Sebastián, who must really want the premier danseur part, does not seem to mind, even if viewers might.

Arsenio also really wants the plum part, and the devious Luciano asks his friend, “What is more important to you, your love for Sebastián or your career?” They conspire to act on Mikael’s desire for male dancers by seducing the choreographer. Arsenio, who is now engaged to Sebastián, allows Mikael to have sex with him against a piano. So much for the couple’s pact not to let the role interfere with their relationship!

“Dying Briefly” plays up the soapier aspects of its story, but because the characters are so underwritten, few of these episodes have any real emotional impact. Early in the film, Sebastián tells Arsenio that he self-harms, burning his body with cigarettes. Not only does the film show this abuse, but Arsenio exploits it and humiliates Sebastián by pulling down his lover’s tights and exposing his fiancé’s scars in his groin area in front of Mikael and the rest of the company. When Sebastián’s female friends tells him, “Someone who loves you doesn’t treat you like that,” he justifies Arsenio’s behavior as being “part of the competition.” So much for love or self-worth!

As Mikael mistreats Arsenio, and Arsenio alienates the company against Sebastián, Sebastián develops a kind of Stockholm Syndrome with Mikael. “Dying Briefly” tries to build some tension as Arsenio spies on Sebastián with Mikael, but the confrontation the lovers have is mostly risible.

The film also includes several campy moments such as one scene where Arsenio vomits, or when Sebastián experiences a nosebleed and ends up wiping the blood all over his face. If Briseño is aiming for messaging or symbolism here, his points are lost. Mikael repeatedly tells his dancers he “wants meaning,” but “Dying Briefly” generates more unintentional laughter than thought.

Even the dance Mikael is choreographing looks really bad. 

At least the actors can be entertaining. Martin Saracho conveys Sebastián’s innocence and ambitions well. He gazes intensely at Arsenio whom he alternately loves and loathes and looks at Mikael with puppy-dog eyes. Saracho handles the dancing, the sex scenes, as well as the abuse Sebastián suffers with aplomb.

While Arsenio is a good foil for Sebastián, Kuri gives a very broad performance, expressing all of his character’s emotions baldly and badly. There should be as much heat in the couple’s rivalry as in their romance, but the film fails to deliver on that level.

In support, Mikael Lacko is wonderfully unsubtle as Mikael. Lacko delivers a goofy, go-for-broke performance that pulls focus. Although his lechery towards Sebastián is creepy, his diva-like moments with the company are amusing. Lacko even overperforms during one of his sex scenes, gyrates his hips weirdly and wildly. But in every scene, he makes viewers feel uncomfortable, which is a notable if dubious achievement.

“Dying Briefly” is more silly than serious. The film takes itself so seriously that viewers who don’t will find it entertaining.