The Virgin of Lust

The Virgin of Lust

2002 · 151 min · ★ 6.8 · Drama, Fantasy, Romance

In Vera Cruz in the 1940s, Nacho, an Indian, waits tables at Don Lázaro's café at Hotel Ofélia. He falls for Lola, an opium-addicted, alcoholic whore who's hopelessly in love with Gardenia Wilson, a masked wrestler who slept with her once but knows she's unbalanced. Don Lázaro warns Nacho about Lola, and Nacho knows his love will be unrequited, but he'll do anything, regardless of how degrading, to be near her. Lola, for her part, can be sadistic. Republican exiles who are regulars at the café encourage Lola's desire to assassinate Franco. Nacho in turn mixes this political mirage with his fascination with the plot of "The Mikado." Where do fantasies and obsessions lead?

Directed by Arturo Ripstein · Written by Max Aub

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

5h 38m together

The Virgin of Lust

The Beginning and the End

Both from Arturo Ripstein.

More from Arturo RipsteinSee all →

Triángulo

Triángulo · 1992

SeriesSoapDrama

Triángulo is a Mexican telenovela produced by Ernesto Alonso for Televisa and originally broadcast on Canal de las Estrellas from August 3 to November 20, 1992. Created by María Zarattini and adapted by Irma Ramos, the telenovela stars Daniela Castro and Eduardo Palomo. The story follows Sara Granados, a kind-hearted young woman who is constantly mistreated by her stepmother and stepsister. After being deceived by the ambitious David and becoming pregnant, Sara finds support in his brother Iván, who falls in love with her. As David returns determined to reclaim her, the three become entangled in a love triangle marked by family conflicts, betrayal, and the search for happiness.

The Exterminating Angel

The Exterminating Angel · 1962

The Exterminating Angel

MovieComedyDrama

After a lavish dinner party, the guests find themselves unable to depart... and, over the next few days, all of their elaborate societal pretenses and façades deteriorate as they are reduced to living like animals.

The Beginning and the End

The Beginning and the End · 1994

The Beginning and the End

The film tells the story of the Boteros, a middle-class Mexican family struggling against poverty after their father's death. Ignacia (Egurrola) is the Boteros mother, a desperate woman who chooses to sacrifice the destiny of her three older children, in order to protect Gabriel (Laguardia) the youngest one. She believes Gabriel will climb the social structure and bring back the lost fortune to the family. But destiny has other plans for the Boteros and tragedy will overcome eventually. Based on the novel of Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz.

Simplemente Maria

Simplemente Maria · 1989

Simplemente Maria

SeriesSoapDrama

The story begins in a small town in rural Mexico, home to Maria López—a humble, dreamy young woman of indigenous descent—who decides to leave her village for Mexico City in search of work and a better life. Upon arriving in the capital, she begins working as a domestic helper in mansions across wealthy neighborhoods, using her earnings to pay for sewing classes. At one of these homes, she meets Juan Carlos del Villar, a playboy who seduces and wins her over.

Aunt Alejandra

Aunt Alejandra · 1980

MovieMysteryHorror

The arrival of Aunt Alejandra triggers a series of nightmarish events that will put the life of a family at mysterious risk.

Castle of Purity

Castle of Purity · 1973

Castle of Purity

A disciplined and sexually driven man forces his family to stay isolated in their home in order to protect them from the “evil nature” of human beings.

The Place Without Limits

The Place Without Limits · 1978

The Place Without Limits

Family honor, greed, machismo, homophobia, and dreams collide in a small Mexican town.

La sonrisa del Diablo

La sonrisa del Diablo · 1992

La sonrisa del Diablo

La sonrisa del diablo is a Mexican telenovela produced by Ernesto Alonso for Televisa and originally broadcast on Canal de las Estrellas from February 24 to July 31, 1992. It is the second adaptation of the 1970 telenovela of the same name, originally created by Luisa Xamar, and was adapted by Fernanda Villeli and Marcia Yance. The story follows Déborah San Román, a beautiful and ambitious young woman who stops at nothing to achieve wealth and power. After marrying a wealthy widower while secretly maintaining a relationship with her unscrupulous lover, she manipulates and betrays everyone around her. As her web of lies and crimes grows, love, honesty, and justice begin to threaten her ruthless ambitions.

Jugaremos en el bosque

Jugaremos en el bosque · 2024

Jugaremos en el bosque

After the death of his son, Javier hopes that restoring his family's abandoned ranch will allow him and his wife Mariana, who attempted suicide, a new beginning, but his grandmother refuses.

Deep Crimson

Deep Crimson · 1996

MovieCrimeDrama

Driven by desire and desperate for self-love, Coral and Nicolás will abandon their past lives in a journey surrounded by murder.

Life Sentence

Life Sentence · 1979

MovieCrimeDrama

After being released from jail, "Tarzan" Lira seeks to rebuild his life as a bank employee. Unfortunately, it might not be as easy as he thinks.

Dulce Desafío

Dulce Desafío · 1988

SeriesDramaSoap

Dulce Desafío is a Mexican telenovela starring Adela Noriega and Eduardo Yáñez.

Familiarities

Familiarities · 1969

MovieRomanceComedy

Betty is visited by a strange salesman the day she is going away on a trip. He stays in the house as a series of bizarre events occur with his arrival.

Devil Between the Legs

Devil Between the Legs · 2019

Devil Between the Legs

Mexico City. Every day, Beatriz is insulted and humiliated by her jealous husband, but she does not flee his side because they have created a codependency and, at least for her, she would not conceive of her life any other way: by dint of feeling humiliated, she feels desired and desirable.

Los novios de mis hijas

Los novios de mis hijas · 1964

Los novios de mis hijas

MovieDramaFamily

Mama has four daughters in their late teens. some of them might be more interested in careers than husbands, but she's hoping she'll find a highly suitable young man for each of them. If there are any out there that meet her standards.

The Ruination of Men

The Ruination of Men · 2000

The Ruination of Men

MovieComedyDrama

A woman seeks help from one of her bigamous husband's killers to transport his corpse back to her home.

More Like This

Live Flesh

Live Flesh · 1997

MovieDramaRomance

When Victor attempts to seduce Elena, all he gets for his trouble is a one-way, six-year ticket to prison, where he concentrates on strengthening his mind, his body... and his desire for vengeance on the man who put him there. After his release and still madly in love with her, Victor will stop at nothing to win her over even if means revenge, for Elena has married David, the cop who sent him to prison!

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

A.I. Artificial Intelligence · 2001

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

MovieDramaScience Fiction

David, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David.

Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour · 1967

MovieDramaRomance

Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.

Together

Together · 2000

MovieDramaComedy

Elisabeth leaves her abusive and drunken husband Rolf, and goes to live with her brother, Göran. The year is 1975 and Göran lives in a commune called Together. Living in this leftist commune Elisabeth learns that the world can be viewed from different perspectives.

Cruel Intentions

Cruel Intentions · 1999

Cruel Intentions

MovieDramaRomance

Slaking a thirst for dangerous games, Kathryn challenges her stepbrother, Sebastian, to deflower their headmaster's daughter before the summer ends. If he succeeds, the prize is the chance to bed Kathryn. But if he loses, Kathryn will claim his most prized possession.

Faces

Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost -- love, excitement, passion -- this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.

Shanghai Express

Shanghai Express · 1932

Shanghai Express

MovieDramaRomance

A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.

Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer · 1981

MovieFantasyAdventure

A sorcerer and his apprentice are on a mission to kill an evil dragon to save the King’s daughter from being sacrificed according to a pact that the King himself made with the dragon to protect his kingdom.

The Edge of Heaven

The Edge of Heaven · 2007

The Edge of Heaven

The lives of six German-Turkish immigrants are drawn together by circumstance: An old man and a prostitute forging a partnership, a young scholar reconciling his past, two young women falling in love, and a mother putting the shattered pieces of her life back together.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha · 2005

Memoirs of a Geisha

MovieDramaRomance

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc · 2025

Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

MovieAnimationAction

In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.

Irina Palm

Irina Palm · 2007

Maggie, a quiet retiring grandmother, finds herself helpless as her grandson’s health deteriorates. When one last chance appears, but money is desperately short, Maggie acts to raise the cash in a fashion that surprises everyone but her.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter