| Duration | 1h 55m |
| Ratings | UK: 15, USA: R, Sweden: 18 (self applied) |
| Source of story | A novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith |
| Director | Adrian Lyne |
| Writers/Script | Zach Helm, Sam Levinson |
| Starring | Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Tracy Letts, Jacob Elordi, |
| Ratings | IMDb: 5.5/10 by 74k people. Rotten Tomatoes: 4.9/10 by 233 reviewers. Review2view: 4/10. |
Plot of Deep Water: Vic and Melinda are married but only just. In order to keep their family together he is accepting of her flighty behaviour involving numerous lovers. He has developed a successful algorithm which powers drones, and spends his time studying snails. When Vic takes a dislike to Melinda’s latest lover, Joel, he suggests that he has killed Martin a previous one. Joel flees believing Vic, but Martin’s body is discovered and the police arrest someone so Vic’s claim is discounted. Vic and Melinda occasionally make love, but she loses no time in taking up with her piano teacher, Charlie, who it seems, is killed by Vic when they are left alone in a swimming pool. Melinda tells the police that Vic has killed Charlie but he brushes off the accusation, saying that she is delusional. But a friend, Don, is suspicious and hires a private detective to follow Vic. When Melinda takes up with Tony, an old friend, things are looking bad.
Content: There is female nudity and some sex between Vic and Melinda. Whatever happens between Melinda and her lovers is behind closed doors although we see her being sexy at parties which seem to be almost continuous. They have a daughter Trixie who is precocious and despite her age seems to know what is going on. She tends to take her father’s side in things. Very occasionally we see Vic with his snails. He reacts in various ways with his friends and acquaintances, once confronting Don when he is dining with his family. Although he has not killed Martin we have no doubt that he is killing the other boyfriends.
A View: The critics did not like this outing much and actually it never made it into cinemas. Whatever success the film has relies on the charisma of Ana de Armas, who seems to be in a slightly different movie, and actually I felt that what had been shot was more erotic than what we saw on the screen, due to the somewhat abrupt editing. I have not come across the book, but would be interested to know how Patricia Highsmith suggests that Vic gets away with the murders, since he is a hopeless killer, either that or the police don’t care. Just another film that you might have on while doing something else.
Fun Fact: The director’s return to film making after a twenty year gap.
Discussion
No comments yet.