"Deep Water" Film Review

"Deep Water" Film Review

Rating: 2/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    Adrian Lyne's newest film, "Deep Water", has received a lot of publicity following the whirlwind romance between stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas throughout the shoot. What was advertised was a sexy, erotic thriller that would remind viewers of David Fincher's "Gone Girl' or some of Lyne's previous films, like "Fatal Attraction". Unfortunately, the movie doesn't work on many levels and isn't the film the viewers were promised, but does contain good performances by the two main leads. 

    The movie follows a married couple (Affleck and de Armas) who seem estranged at first, but still very in love. Yet, we don't really see how troubled their relationship is until we see de Armas' character Melinda making out with another guy at a party they went to. What the viewer then realizes is that her husband, Vic, lets her see any guy she wants to avoid getting a divorce. However, when these lovers are suddenly disappearing, Vic becomes a major suspect in their disappearances, leading to the police and neighbors going through their past to find the truth. 

    Like mentioned earlier, the movie is supposed to be an erotic thriller. I was expecting a scary and violent version of "Fifty Shades of Grey", rather than what we actually received. I don't think we can call this film either an erotic movie or a thriller. There is barely any sexual content in it, and even mainstream films have more sex and nudity in them than this film. Now, that's not a reason to call the film bad, but the fact that it wasn't really a thriller disappoints fans as well. The movie moves at a spectacularly slow rate, only bringing in the thriller aspect within the last few minutes of the film. I understand if they were trying to build up to this climax throughout the whole film, but I think the filmmakers did it all in the wrong way.

    I would have liked to see much more action and violence in this film than what we actually received. It's annoying because at the core of the film, Affleck's character seems like a push-over and is scared to do anything. It's very frustrating, and after a while, I was ready for this movie to conclude as I was tired of the back and forth between him and his wife. 

    This is not dissing either of their performances in this film. I think they both did a good job in this movie, like they do in most of the other films they are in. It's rather due to the writing of the film and how it's presented. It's not a good character study on either side, and takes advantage of the star power that is signed on, which also includes breakout star from "Euphoria", Jacob Elordi. 

    However, when we do receive fight sequences or scenes that should keep the viewer on the edge of their seat, it is done pretty well. They are shot nicely and show everything that the viewer would want to see from a movie. If they were able to make the film more exciting and include more of these scenes, perhaps the film could have received a better rating than what I gave it.

    It's honestly a huge disappointment that this is what fans of Adrian Lyne have been waiting for. Not only was this a disappointing film, but could fully mark the end of Lyne's career. Of course he made some fantastic films in the past, and those should always be remembered. But perhaps he's been going on for too long, and this is where he should retire with the good films he does have on his resume.