‘Deep Water’ (2022) | Movie Review

Infatuation can be innocent, take Vic and Melinda (Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas). This couple finds ways to make their relationship less stale, Melinda is a wild force that cannot be tamed, and Vic has no intentions on trying. But after a bad joke is taken too far, Vic starts to realize that the sexual freedom he gives to Melinda has taken an emotional toll, and that toll needs to be paid for in this suspense thriller that has some moments of brilliance and some silly lifetime drama equally distributed.

I actually haven’t seen Fatal Attraction, or Basic Instinct. This lane of the romance/drama is not completely foreign to me but never have I seen it done like this before. Infidelity is taken to murderous extremes as Vic continues meeting Melinda’s side pieces. Everyone who know their relationship knows that Melinda likes seeing other men, while Vic is more likely to be a father figure for their daughter, and try to give her a sense of normalcy around her spirited mother.

I did like the drama between Affleck and De Armas. the relationship seems toxic to its very core, and without a spark to keep it lasting much longer. But there’s a level of addiction they both have to each others drama that is fascinated to watch. Both performances were good, and the chemistry works very well. After an incident puts Vic at the center of attention for a potential murder, the film starts taking a more silly approach to the drama.

If Gone Girl were a step below it’s quality it would be similar to Deep Water. that’s not to say Deep Water is a bad film, it isn’t. It’s more a lesser of what it could be based on the story, where if it were helmed differently it could become the next hit of this year. For me, it didn’t find that sweet spot but was still not unpleasant to watch, and actually a decent time if you’re interested. Now on Hulu, I would recommend this to anyone who was curious by the marketing, but otherwise is okay to watch later.