''Deep Water'' is a 2022

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

film directed by

Adrian Lyne Adrian Lyne (born 4 March 1941) is an English film director. Lyne is known for sexually charged narratives that explore conflicting passions, the power of seduction, moral ambiguity, betrayal, and the indelibility of infidelity. In the mid 197 ...

, from a screenplay by

Zach Helm Zach Helm (born January 21, 1975) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He's known for his work on the films '' Stranger than Fiction'' (2006) and '' Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium'' (2007), as well as the stage play ''Good ...

and Sam Levinson, based on the 1957 novel of the same name by

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character T ...

. The film stars

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

and Ana de Armas, with

Tracy Letts Tracy S. Letts (born July 4, 1965) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for '' August: Osage County'' (2007), for which he received t ...

Lil Rel Howery Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for playing Robert Carmichael in NBC's television comedy series '' The Carmichael Show'' (2015–2017) and Rod Williams in the horror fi ...

Dash Mihok Dashiell Raymond Mihok (; born May 24, 1974) is an American actor and director known as Brendan "Bunchy" Donovan in Showtime's ''Ray Donovan''. Early life Mihok was born in New York City, the son of theater actors Andrea Mihok (née Cloak) and ...

Finn Wittrock Peter L. Wittrock Jr. (born October 28, 1984), known professionally as Finn Wittrock, is an American actor who began his career in guest roles on several television shows. He made his film debut in 2004, in '' Halloweentown High'' before returning ...

, Kristen Connolly, and Jacob Elordi appearing in supporting roles. It marks Lyne's return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence since his last film, '' Unfaithful'' (2002). ''Deep Water'' was released on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

on March 18, 2022, following several delays due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Plot

Melinda and Vic Van Allen live with their young daughter Trixie in Little Wesley,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Vic has retired early after developing guidance chips for combat drones, and his complicated relationship with Melinda is held together by a precarious arrangement: they sleep apart and Melinda takes lovers openly, even in their family home, while Vic finds solace in raising his large collection of snails. Their open marriage is no secret to their concerned friends, and Vic grows increasingly jealous, while Melinda laments his lack of passion. Melinda invites her latest lover, Joel, to a neighbour's party. Alone with Joel, Vic tells him that he murdered Melinda's previous lover Martin, who has recently disappeared. The story spreads through their circle of friends, raising the suspicions of noir writer Don Wilson. Joel comes to dinner with the Van Allen family, and Vic elaborates in private that he killed Martin with a hammer, frightening Joel into leaving town. A TV news report reveals that Martin's body has been found shot to death, and a suspect is arrested. Vic confronts Melinda after she gives money to Charlie, her new lover and piano teacher. She invites Charlie to a friend's pool party and introduces him to Vic, toying with his jealousy. Rain sends everyone inside, leaving Vic and Charlie alone in the water. After Melinda discovers Charlie's body drowned in the pool, the party is questioned by police, and Melinda is quick to accuse Vic of murdering Charlie. He later asks if she is scared of him, and she says she is not as "I'm the one you killed for". Don's wife Kelly tells Vic that her husband and Melinda have been accusing him of Charlie's murder. Vic discovers they have hired a private investigator to follow him and confronts Don in front of Don's family. Melinda reconnects with an old boyfriend, Tony, and Vic overhears their conversation suggesting they will move to Brazil, taking Trixie with them. She invites Tony to dinner with Vic and takes him to her bedroom, furthering Vic's jealousy. Vic lures Tony into his car and drives him to a secluded spot he and Melinda share, overlooking a rocky gorge. He throws stones at Tony, causing him to fall down the hill to his death, and sinks his body in the creek. Melinda takes Vic and their daughter on a picnic to the same spot. Vic gives her a collection of photographs he has surreptitiously taken of her as a testament to his love, but spots Tony's body resurfaced in the creek. Returning home, he offers to go back to the spot in the morning to retrieve Melinda's lost scarf. She notifies Don, but invites Vic to share her bed that night. The next day, Vic bikes to the creek to deal with Tony's body, but is caught in the act by Don. Don rushes away in his car to notify authorities. Vic pursues him on his bike and takes a shortcut through the brush to try to head Don off. Vic tumbles out of the bushes and falls off his bike into the car's path; texting recklessly, Don swerves to avoid Vic but drives off a cliff and is killed. At home, Melinda finds Tony's wallet in one of Vic's snail

vivaria A vivarium (; or vivariums) is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Water-based vivaria may have open tops providing they are not connected to other water bodies. An animal enclosur ...

. She packs a suitcase to leave, which Trixie throws in the pool, insisting they stay. Vic arrives home, where Melinda tells him that she "saw Tony". However, she then burns Tony's wallet and ID cards.

Cast

Production

The project began development in 2013, with

set to direct and

Fox 2000 Pictures Fox 2000 Pictures was an American film production company within The Walt Disney Studios. It was a sister studio of the larger film studios 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, specializing in producing independent films in mid-range ...

set to finance. Fox 2000 sold the rights to New Regency in 2018. In August 2019, the project saw new developments;

and Ana de Armas agreed to star, with

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

agreeing to handle the distribution via their

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

label. In October 2019,

and Rachel Blanchard joined the cast of the film. Filming began in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on November 4, 2019, with the additions of

, Jacob Elordi, Kristen Connolly, Jade Fernandez and

to the cast. In December 2019, Michael Braun joined the cast of the film.

Release

''Deep Water'' was originally scheduled to be released on November 13, 2020, but was delayed to August 13, 2021, and again to January 14, 2022. On December 9, 2021, it was taken off the release schedule. Four days later, it was reported that the film would move to a

-exclusive release in the United States and an

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

–exclusive release internationally. On February 14, 2022, it was announced that the film would be released on Hulu on March 18, 2022, and on Prime Video for a simultaneous international release.

Reception

Audience viewership

According to

Samba TV Samba TV is a television technology company that offers real-time insights and audience analytics. It was founded in 2008 by early employees of BitTorrent, including Samba TV's current chief executive officer, Ashwin Navin. The company develops ...

, 826,000 U.S. households watched ''Deep Water'' during its first weekend on Hulu. According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, ''Deep Water'' was the 4th most streamed movie across all platforms, during the week of March 23, 2022, the 4th during the week of March 27, 2022, and the 6th during the week of April 7, 2022.

Critical response

Natalia Keogan of '' Paste'' rated the film 8 out of 10, asserting, "There's a very good chance that the film's zero-sum game will not appeal to everyone, least of all those who flip it on with the hopes of a tumultuous sex-fueled affair. More akin to the similarly Affleck-starring '' Gone Girl'' than ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

''—or if we're using Lyne's filmography as a reference, more akin to ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession ...

'' than '' An Indecent Proposal''—''Deep Water'' is a sweat-inducing psychological scheme that is constantly aiming to intrigue and titillate. The paperback pulp origins of Highsmith's original story are kept intact, alleviating any semblance of eye-roll worthy ridiculousness that doesn't at least try to make an interesting point. As each shocking revelation tacks on another clue in the sprawling mystery, the audience isn't sure just who or what to believe—making the film's fiery ending all the more jaw-dropping."

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, journalist, and media personality. Raised throughout the southern United States and educated at Louisiana State University, Reed moved to New York City in the early 1960s to begi ...

of ''

Observer Media Observer Media is an American online media company. The company was formed through several acquisitions, including acquisition of ''The New York Observer'' in 2007. Observer Media is based in Lower Manhattan, New York City, and was owned by bu ...

'' gave ''Deep Water'' a grade of 3 out of 4 stars, writing, "''Deep Water'' has shock effects when and where you least expect them. It's the kind of riveting and dynamic thriller from start to finish we used to take for granted in the good old days, don't see much anymore, and could definitely use a lot more of." David Rooney of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' appreciated Lyne's return to filmmaking, but gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Lyne's take on the material, scripted without distinction by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson, manages to drain all the subtlety and psychological complexity from Highsmith's story of marital warfare, transgression and obsession." Adam Nayman of '' The Ringer'' said, "Thrillers that don't quite stick the landing are common, and considering rumors of a troubled production, ''Deep Water'' is far from a disaster—or from the salacious camp classic the online hordes seem to be clamoring for. But it's also not good enough to serve as ground zero for some larger renewal of the erotic thriller. The frustration lies in watching people who know what they're doing fail to completely pull it off; the residual feeling is one of a missed opportunity. In the funniest—and most overtly

Hitchcockian Hitchcockian films are those made by various filmmakers, with the styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock. Characteristics Elements considered Hitchcockian include: *Climactic plot twist. *The cool platinum blonde. *The presenc ...

moment—Vic watches as something he'd tried his best to hide winds up coming back into plain sight. Affleck's half-guilty, half-impatient expression is hilarious, as is his half-hearted attempt to push the incriminating thing back out of view. It's the perfect emblem for a movie that isn't really trying to submerge its flaws."

Notes

References

External links

* {{Hulu 2022 psychological thriller films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s erotic thriller films 2020s mystery thriller films 2020s romantic thriller films 20th Century Studios films American erotic romance films American erotic thriller films American mystery thriller films American psychological thriller films American romantic thriller films American serial killer films Canadian erotic thriller films Canadian mystery thriller films Canadian psychological thriller films Canadian romantic thriller films Canadian serial killer films English-language erotic thriller films English-language mystery thriller films English-language romantic thriller films Films about adultery in the United States Films about murder Films about sexuality Films based on American novels Films based on works by Patricia Highsmith Films directed by Adrian Lyne Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films produced by Arnon Milchan Films scored by Marco Beltrami Films set in Louisiana Films shot in New Orleans Lionsgate Canada films Regency Enterprises films