Hell teems to the brim while heaven stands nearly vacant in Don't Tempt Me, a supernatural comedy from Spanish writer-director Agustín Díaz Yanes. The former looks like an overcrowded, overheated mental institution. Everyone speaks English and plots to overthrow the boss (Y Tu Mamá También's Gael García Bernal), or at least coax him into installing some air conditioning. The latter looks like the black-and-white Paris of a romantic '30s movie. Everyone answers to Fanny Ardant, who sends top agent/popular singer Victoria Abril to save the soul of a roughneck boxer (Demián Bichir) prone to smacking around women and stealing money from all the wrong men. Working for the other side is Penélope Cruz, a demonic slinkster with a tough right hook. Abril poses as Bichir's wife, Cruz as his cousin, and they both take jobs at a large supermarket while competing for the attention of Bichir, who somehow holds the fate of the world in his hands. Also, at one point Cruz does a martial-arts-inspired dance to "Kung Fu Fighting." This must all make sense to Yanes, somehow, but the film plays like a private joke with no punchline. Though Yanes has a flair for visuals, his muddy mythology makes the theological loop-de-loops of Dogma look like the Nicene Creed. Don't Tempt Me tries to both amuse and enlighten, throwing in musical numbers, heist sequences, and quotes from Epicurus and Pascal. It succeeds mostly at confounding, in spite of lively performances all around, particularly from Cruz. She always seems more comfortable the less English a role requires, and she tears into her tomboy-temptress role with gusto, creating a level of intimidation that seems mismatched to her less-than-imposing frame. It's a nice trick and a welcome relief from the rest of the film, which too often feels like the senior thesis of a pothead religious-studies major with a terrible sense of humor.