Deep Water

Fractures can appear in any marriage, but for Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda (Anna De Armas), stress lines have become permanently set. To counter this deterioration and save their family from breaking apart, Vic allows his wife to have affairs in public, promising to swallow his jealously for his daughter’s sake. But, following a fatal encounter with one of Melinda’s beaus, Vic becomes a prime suspect and the pledge between the couple begins to unravel.

Gripping is one word that can be used to describe Adrian Lyne’s Deep Water as the viewer teeters on the edge of sanity watching countless love triangles appear. Vic is stronger man than most when it comes to being cuckolded by his wife in front of their friends, but it is clear from the beginning this is not a scenario he wishes to find himself in. Affleck tells a thousand words simply through his facial expressions, recalling his performance in The Accountant – a tall structure of stability on the outside, but behind the eyes is a soul ready to kill.

De Armas also brings her own stylish flair to her role as Melinda, who is, quite frankly, a pain in the backside, most interested in who her next fling will be and desperately searching for fun and liberation from her familial responsibility. There is an interesting dynamic between the two actors, given they were in fact dating at the time of shooting. Their real-life relationship makes the on-screen chemistry sizzle as both actors carry the weight of the film on their shoulders.

Shot naturalistically, it falls to the plot to deliver the real sucker punch, but until one short sequence in the closing minutes, the stakes are never particularly high for either Vic or Melinda. This lack of peril leaves a stain on the film as it progresses through its chapters, ultimately calling its real meaning and purpose into question. There is a running joke throughout that Vic in fact murdered one of Melinda’s former companions, and as the narrative unravels, viewers too begin to wonder if he has killed before. Maybe the off-the-cuff remarks made earlier were in fact true? 

The lack of exploration of this and any form of comeuppance leaves the ending feeling a little unsatisfactory, but all in all Deep Water is an engrossing thriller whose performances shine through the cracks in its exterior.

Guy Lambert

Deep Water is released digitally on demand on 18^th March 2022.

Watch the trailer for Deep Water here: