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Drowning in Mystery: ‘Deep Water (2022)’ Film Review

Deep Water 2022 movie poster

Straight to streaming platforms, “Deep Water” goes to great lengths to convince you that the rich will do anything to avoid a messy divorce. In this sexy and dark thriller movie, Vic is a man who will even watch on as his wife Melinda (Ana de Armas) parades a stream of men in front of him. Always sloppy drunk, and wearing outfits that are intended to enhance everything about her, Melinda is not a complex character. Neither likable nor nuanced, she prances around her friends like someone who is forced to play out her fantasies in front of her husband.

Here, in Adrian Lyne’s (Fatal Attraction) psychosexual storm front, Melinda says she is being controlled. The repercussions of this control are that she is simply doing what she must endure. The two tease each other about the idea of divorce. As Vic watches Melinda’s every move, there seems to be an agreement between the two.

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Deep Water initially opens as Vic shares his firm beliefs about soulmates and unwavering partnerships. The title soon becomes a cautionary tale of the consequences of wishing for something without fully understanding its implications. It becomes clear that the situation-ship that has been presented to Vic is not what he desires. Without hesitation, he confronts the issue head-on during one of the couple’s social gatherings, pulling aside one of Melinda’s new admirers. In a seemingly harmless conversation, the long-haired man extends his gratitude to Vic for allowing him to date his wife. However, as the discussion unfolds, Joel quickly realizes that his connection with Melinda is far from the “cool” arrangement he initially anticipated. Vic, unemotionally composed, casually mentions Melinda’s previous involvement with a younger partner, who curiously happens to be missing.

“Why is it that all the interesting guys are married?”

The following morning, Vic’s friends joke to him about Joel telling anyone who’ll listen that he is, in fact, responsible for killing Melinda’s missing lover. Not one person seems enticed by the thought he might actually have done it. Rather, they all applaud his ability to stay with a woman who is most certainly making a mockery of him. But with one man sent running in the opposite direction away from a potentially large angry contentious Vic, enters another.

Deep Water is the type of film that challenges your ability to like anyone in the story. At the same time, it’s so deliciously torrid that you have to see it out to watch who will break first. Melinda and Vic still desire each other. On occasion, they form a solid family unit. Deep Water is about the atmosphere that’s created when sadomasochistic relationships are formed. Better yet, these two married each other and had a child.

Deep Water, Ben Affleck
Based on the novel by mystery writer Patricia Highsmith (Courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

“Sometimes, I think he’s not normal because normal people know how to let go.”

Quote from Melinda in the Deep Water movie

Deep Water Movie 2022

The Deep Water movie will keep you watching out of an unbridled inclination to get to the root of the relationship’s woes. Is one of these people more deserving of love than the other? More importantly, is Vic murdering his wife’s lovers? Less about answering why this film will ultimately betray its mysterious nature with an ending that simply crashes into the trees with stupidity and coincidence. Instead of being a film to remember, an action sequence placed like a round peg into a square hole in the final quarter mars the good work that came before it.

A story that is definitely worthy of a one-time watch, Deep Water is good but not mind-blowingly so.

Deep Water 2022 is rated

3 “What are you doing with that stick?” out of 5

Mother of Movies score

Next, see the link below for where to watch the Deep Water movie in your country. Additionally, the mystery and thriller film is available from 18th March 2022. For something different on Netflix, try 2022’s The Bubble.

Deep Water movie
Deep Water cast with Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas

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