Deep Water is an erotic psychological thriller directed by Adrian Lyne. It is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1957 novel of the same name. Zach Helm and Sam Levinson together penned the screenplay of the Amazon Prime Video film. The film stars Ben Affleck as Vic Van Allen and Ana de Armas as Melinda Van Allen. The rest of the star cast includes Tracy Letts, Jacob elordi, Kristen Conolly, and others. The duration of the film is 115 minutes.
The synopsis for Amazon Prime Video’s Deep Water reads, “Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck star in this tense, mystery thriller based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. A husband becomes the primary suspect when his wife’s lovers start dying, after letting his wife have affairs in order to avoid a divorce. Who’s really telling the truth?”
Amazon Prime’s Deep Water Review Contains No Spoilers
Deep Water Review: Plot Summary
Vic and Melinda are in an unhappy open marriage and have a daughter together. Often, Melinda befriends a new man and starts dating him. Vic is shown as an understanding husband who’s cool that his wife has other men in her life. However, things take a weird turn when Vic jokes to one of Melinda’s lovers that he killed a man in the past who was also his wife’s “friend”. The joke soon becomes a big reason for Melinda to suspect Vic as her lovers either die or go missing.
In those 115 minutes, we learn about Vic and Ana’s dysfunctional marriage. Is Vic really the person behind the disappearance of his wife’s lovers? If not, who is doing all this? If yes, why is he acting all cool on the outside when his wife starts an open affair with someone new? There are many questions. However, only a few are answered. But not all are answered in-depth.
Deep Water Review: Screenplay, Performance and More
Ben Affleck has played a complex and layered character like Vic, even in Gone Girl. So there are obviously high expectations and excitement to see what he offers as Vic in Adrian Lyne’s Deep Water. Often, Vic has a straight face on screen and only frowns/shown disturbed when he can’t stand his wife’s lover. He’s fond of collecting snails in his house as they’re valuable to him. His approach towards his gorgeous wife Melinda seems to be the same.
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Despite being such a good-looking couple, Vic and Melinda have no chemistry. Vic says he loves his wife and doesn’t want to leave her. But there’s a lack of passion, romance and respect in their marriage. We know a lot about him. He’s a successful tech developer who earned a lot of money through his work related to drone technology. Vic lives in a lavish house with his wife in a small town among elite people.
On the other hand, Ana de Armas’ Melinda looks stunning in every frame. However, all we know about her is that she’s unhappy with Vic and seeks attention and satisfaction from other men. Melinda is either holding a glass of wine, overdrunk or falling in the arms of her lovers. We don’t figure out her as a person till the end because the makers didn’t care to show us what she truly is.
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Deep Water is cited as an “erotic thriller”. Sadly, it is highly missing the erotic and the thriller factor. The screenplay is tedious, often underwhelming. Even the addition of an author who is confident that Vic killed Melinda’s lovers doesn’t add any kick to the plot. The intensity in the narrative is missing, just like it’s missing between Ben and Ana’s characters.
Deep Water Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, Deep Water on Amazon Prime Video is not up to the mark. We know the couple is unhappy but never learn why and how it started. It’s unflattering and bland with a dissatisfying conclusion. Ana and Ben are amazing actors. Sadly, they do not deliver anything extraordinary due to a weak storyline.
The film will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video from March 18.
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