Whither the erotic thriller? The genre, so popular in the late '80s and early '90s, is a dying breed in the current Hollywood landscape, so any time one makes it to the screen, it’s a cause for celebration, or at least notice. Especially one directed by Adrian Lyne, the king of the erotic thrillers, having directed “Fatal Attraction,” “9 1/2 Weeks,” “Indecent Proposal” and “Unfaithful.” His latest film, “Deep Water,” shot in 2019, produced the quarantine tabloid frenzy that was the much photographed relationship between stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, so it feels like it’s been far too long a wait for this film, an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel, which hits Hulu on Friday.
The Affleck/de Armas affair adds to the pulpy metatextual appeal of “Deep Water.” The rather basic script by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson is elevated by Lyne’s direction and the performances of the two leads. Lyne draws out the elements of the story that aren’t laid out in the text, the darker, far more subversive themes that lie below the surface in this tale of an unconventional marriage.
The premise of “Deep Water” is a husband “allowing” his wife to conduct extramarital affairs in order to keep her within the family fold. But Vic Van Allen (Affleck) doesn’t seem to allow, so much as he barely tolerates, visibly grimacing when Melinda (de Armas) parades her lovers under his nose. While not in the text of the script itself, what Lyne teases out is the depiction of their relationship as a dominant/submissive one, perhaps even fetishistic.
Vic is under Melinda’s manipulative spell, and truth be told, they both kinda like it this way. She gets to have her flings with young hunks, and he gets to work out his aggressive side making idle threats toward them. That her “friends” keep going missing or turning up dead seems only a minor inconvenience. It all seems a big game for these two wealthy, bored people. Taking lovers is a profession for idle housewife Melinda, and toying with them is another useless hobby for early retiree Vic, who cashed out his career inventing computer chips used in drone warfare and now spends his days publishing a vanity magazine, cycling and cultivating snails. Weapons of war fund their plush lifestyle in a stately historic New Orleans home, throwing parties for their friends and sniping at each other as Melinda brazenly trots out her boy toys.
His performance as Vic is Affleck in one of his best registers, previously seen in “Gone Girl,” as a smirky, annoyed and brooding jerk. De Armas is utterly magnetic, as usual, and while she’s charming and beautiful, there’s a coldness to her Melinda as well, unquestionably a sociopathic philanderer, who enjoys her flirtations, but only seems to get off on cuckolding her husband. The manipulation is the point, and de Armas’ Melinda relishes that most of all.
Outside of the complex central relationship to which Lyne dedicates his attention, the supporting characters are disposable, the friends present to witness things and parrot back small-town gossip or serve as a voice of reason in the face of a marriage that doesn’t make sense at all. A nosy noir novelist, Don (Tracy Letts) is the only character who meddles too much to pose a threat.
“Deep Water” is ridiculous and trashy, but in that “Saturday night, bottle of wine, bowl of popcorn on the couch” kind of way. But this isn't an easily digestible pablum either. The ending of the film is far more ambiguous than the novel’s conclusion. Is it an endorsement? That’s up to the viewer, but it’s a lot more complex and chewy than most movies offer up these days, so it’s worth a dip into “Deep Water.”
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‘DEEP WATER’
2.5 stars (out of 4)
MPAA rating: R (for sexual content, nudity, language and some violence)
Running time: 1:55
Where to watch: Streaming on Hulu Friday
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