Desperado poster

Desperado (1995)

Film · 1h 44m · Rated R

Action, Crime, Thriller

A relentless, bullet-riddled showdown plunges a musician into a dark, gritty border underworld.

Pulpy and suspenseful. A full-attention watch at full speed. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Prime Video.

Desperado parents guide

It stays inside its R, with moderate sex and nudity, and brutal violence.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
A couple
One or two sudden jolts.
Gore
Graphic gore
Blood and wounds shown clearly.
Violence
Brutal violence
Our top level for violence.
Sex and nudity
Moderate
Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Desperado scary?
Only a little. Desperado has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is Desperado?
Graphic gore and brutal violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.
What is Desperado rated, and is it OK for kids?
Rated R, and it earns it: moderate sex and nudity, brutal violence, and some strong language. Not one for kids.

What is Desperado about?

El Mariachi plunges headfirst into the dark border underworld when he follows a trail of blood to the last of the infamous Mexican drug lords, Bucho, for an action-packed, bullet-riddled showdown. With the help of his friend and a beautiful bookstore owner, El Mariachi tracks Bucho, takes on his army of desperados, and leaves his own trail of blood.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

No. Brace yourself.

Cast and crew

Directed byRobert Rodriguez
StarringAntonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Joaquim de Almeida, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Carlos Gómez

More like Desperado

Desperado is on our Thriller on Prime Video and Crime on Prime Video lists.

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Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

Lists with the same feel: Most violent and Edge of your seat.

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.