Most of director Adrian Lyne’s films are sexually charged novel adaptations with similar tropes like affairs, deaths, and heartbreaks. They will also star some of the most famous actors of that time. That said, his films are also infamous for setting the cash registers running despite receiving mixed criticism. While Lyne’s previous films like Fatal Attraction (1987), Indecent Proposal (1993), and Unfaithful (2002) followed these templates and became smashing hits, Deep Water, his latest after 20 years, lacks the depth and gravitas to be added to that list.
Based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith, the film is about an unhappy married couple Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda (Ana de Armas), who enter an open marriage to keep the family afloat. However, Melinda’s endeavours rub Vic the wrong way, and when you throw in a few deaths, the marriage is pushed to the proverbial edge.
Vic, for some reason, enjoys maintaining his snail farm and it pretty much symbolises the film’s pacing despite being a thriller. In fact, the film, which was promoted as an erotic thriller, fails to do justice to both genres. How can one forget the elevator scene in Fatal Attraction or the hallway scene in Unfaithful? There is no paucity of sex scenes in Deep Water, but they are hardly a patch on the passionate scenes we have seen in Lyne’s earlier films.
The reason why Deep Water fails to intrigue us even as a drama is because of how the lead characters and their actions feel alien and distant to the audience. While it’s easier to grasp the superficial characteristics like how Vic sought early retirement after a successful military deal and Melinda’s drinking problems, the film doesn’t really give these characters an arc or a necessity to change the course of their behavioural patterns. That said, with whatever limitations their character possesses, both Affleck and de Armas give us convincing portrayals. While Affleck’s Vic does remind us of his Nick from Gone Girl, the actor does once again show his prowess as someone who can exhibit pain and agony without much emotions or dialogues.
There are enough moments where Deep Water could have done justice to its thriller tag. There is even a running gag on how Vic is a ‘war criminal’ because his military drones are probably out there killing innocent civilians. But Deep Water never really capitalises on these aspects. There’s a scene in the film where a corpse that was hidden beneath a water body starts floating up in an inopportune moment to lay bare the truth about its lead character. Just like that, Deep Water’s inefficiency as an erotic thriller and the fact that the film wastes the talent of two gifted actors stick out like a sore thumb in this shallow thriller.
Deep Water