Deep Water (2022) - SPOILER-FREE Review
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© 20th Century Studios. All rights reserved.
Directed by: Adrian Lyne
Written by: Zach Helm, Sam Levinson
Starring: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, Dash Mihok, Finn Wittrock, Kristen Connolly, Jacob Elordi, Rachel Blanchard
Runtime: 115 min
Synopsis: Based on the celebrated novel by famed mystery writer Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Deep Water takes us inside the marriage of picture-perfect Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda Van Allen (Ana de Armas) to discover the dangerous mind games they play and what happens to the people that get caught up in them.
© 20th Century Studios. All rights reserved.
When the topic of cinephile conversation involves erotic thrillers, Adrian Lyne is one of the most frequently mentioned filmmakers. Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal, or his last film Unfaithful are examples of a career marked by sexually defined stories and characters, where eroticism is a narrative element with tremendous impact. With names like Ben Affleck (The Last Duel) and Ana de Armas (No Time To Die) in the mix - on top of that, their love relationship began precisely during the filming of Deep Water - one would have expected a fascinating work filled with countless moments of heightened intensity.
Unfortunately, the decision to allocate Deep Water for streaming - Hulu in America, Prime Video internationally - turns out to be understandable. The two-decade break on the part of the well-known director seems to have made him lose his best qualities, although the biggest problem of the movie lies in the screenplay itself. Perhaps because of misleading marketing or a creative team that failed in its primary mission, but for something that was supposed to be an erotic thriller, it lacks those same thrills and eroticism. It doesn't take an entire hand to count the truly tense moments, either sexually or narratively.
Lyne isn't capable of creating an extremely captivating atmosphere as before in his career, giving in to the lazy, uninteresting, extremely repetitive script. Zach Helm (Stranger than Fiction) and Sam Levinson (Malcolm & Marie) build two absolutely despicable characters without any decent attribute one would use to describe a human. While Melinda (Armas) swaps lovers with shocking ease and speed, Vic (Affleck) commits horrible acts stemming from overwhelming jealousy. Both repeat their "desires" throughout the runtime without there being any character arc or clear motivations.
© 20th Century Studios. All rights reserved.
Therefore, viewers are left to live a purely toxic relationship on the big screen, with no essential message to convey, astonishing secrets to unravel, or even a genuinely surprising narrative moment. Deep Water is so repetitive structurally that it's not even possible to divide the story into the traditional three acts since there doesn't seem to be any build-up towards some kind of climax. Affleck and Armas do their best and commit entirely to their roles, but they're not enough to elevate shallow characters in a story that constantly stumbles from one narrative point to the next.
It's true that it's been eight years since Gone Girl, but it's still a somewhat recent example of great success within this genre. Deep Water clearly tries to follow some formulas used by David Fincher, but everything goes wrong. Secondary characters appear and disappear at random; for example, Vic's best friends are forgotten for the last half hour, as well as a potentially sexual relationship that turns out to be nothing more than a mere "tease". Aside from a couple of taut moments between Affleck and his wife's lovers, not even Marco Beltrami's score (No Exit) can save such a huge disappointment.
© 20th Century Studios. All rights reserved.
Final Thoughts
Deep Water sells itself as an erotic thriller, but it lacks precisely those same components. Adrian Lyne tries to make a comeback after a twenty-year absence from cinema, but Zach Helm and Sam Levinson's screenplay holds too many problems. The protagonists couldn't be more awful people in an incredibly toxic relationship that's frustrating to watch, but their lack of development and inexistent arcs make the narrative feel repetitive, predictable, and lacking intensity. The messy approach to the secondary characters and subplots contributes to an absolutely disastrous script, where not even a traditional third act can be found. In the end, Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are actually good, so there's something to appreciate.
