''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, ...

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the 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. In terms of context and co ...

film directed by

Adrian Lyne Adrian Lyne (born 4 March 1941) is an English film director, writer and producer. Having begun his career directing 1970s television commercials, Lyne made well-received short films which were entries in the London Film Festival. He started ma ...

, from a screenplay by

Zach Helm Zach Helm (born January 21, 1975) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He wrote the internationally-performed stage play ''Good Canary'', wrote and directed the film ''Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium'' (2007) and has staged ...

and

Sam Levinson Samuel Levinson (born January 8, 1985) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the son of Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson. In 2010, he received his first writing credit as a co-writer for the action comedy film '' Operation: Endg ...

, based on the 1957 novel of the same name by

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (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 Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 nov ...

. The film stars

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

and

Ana de Armas Ana Celia de Armas Caso (; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba and had a leading role in the romantic drama '' Una rosa de Francia'' (2006). At age 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in t ...

, 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 ...

Lil Rel Howery Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American actor and comedian. Howery is known for playing Robert Carmichael in NBC's television comedy series '' The Carmichael Show'' (2015–2017) and Transportation Security Administra ...

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

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

Kristen Connolly Kristen Connolly (born July 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Dana in the 2011 film '' The Cabin in the Woods'', Christina Gallagher on the Netflix series '' House of Cards'' and Jamie Campbell on the CBS series ' ...

, and

Jacob Elordi Jacob Elordi (born 26 June 1997) is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles as Noah Flynn in Netflix's The Kissing Booth (film series), ''The Kissing Booth'' teen film franchise and Nate Jacobs in the HBO series ''Euphoria (American TV s ...

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 streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television seri ...

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

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

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

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. 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 and 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. 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. In closing, Trixie sings along to "

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" is a song credited to British singer Leo Sayer, taken from his 1976 album '' Endless Flight''. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, making it his first top single in the United States, and rea ...

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 Walt Disney Studios (division), The Walt Disney Studios. It was a sister studio of the larger film studio 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures specializing in producing ind ...

set to finance. Fox 2000 sold the rights to

New Regency Regency Enterprises (commonly referred to as Regency onscreen and copyrighting as Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. in the U.S. and Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. overseas) is an American entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was fou ...

in 2018. In August 2019, the project saw new developments;

and

agreed to star, with

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ...

agreeing to handle the distribution via their

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

label. In October 2019,

and

Rachel Blanchard Rachel Blanchard (born 19 March 1976) is a Canadian actress.Rachel Blanchard's bio
at ...

joined the cast of the film. Filming began in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 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, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service p ...

–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 CEO, Ashwin Navin. It develops software for televisions, set ...

, 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 Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, A liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves a ...

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

'' gave ''Deep Water'' a grade of 3 out of 4 stars, writing, "Ben Affleck plays a diabolical husband with the calm, resolute demeanor of a mathematician solving an elaborate calculus problem. Ana de Armas plays a wife with carnal ingenuity. She keeps finding handsome new guys to reduce the boredom, and he keeps thinking up ingenious new ways to murder them. Heading the exceptional supporting cast is actor-playwright Tracy Letts, as the suspicious neighbor whose radical discovery of the truth fatally backfires. How she finally traps her husband and ends the charade gives the film its “gotcha” moment, but ''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 Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' 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 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 English-language films 2020s erotic thriller films 20th Century Studios films American erotic romance films American erotic thriller films American psychological thriller films Entertainment One films Adultery in films 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 scored by Marco Beltrami Films set in Louisiana Films shot in New Orleans Regency Enterprises films Films produced by Arnon Milchan 2020s American films