Deep Water had the potential to intrigue audiences and delve into doomed marriages and carnal love, but failed on all fronts. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.
Hulu’s Deep Water drops on the streaming service this Friday, March 18th. The film is based on the popular Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name and stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. The plot revolves around the crumbling relationship of a married couple, where the wife openly has extra-martial affairs and her lovers begin to go missing. While the premise is intriguing and suspenseful, the movie fails to deliver. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.
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Deep Water Movie Quotes
Deep Water Parents Guide
Deep Water is a psychological thriller that takes us inside the marriage of picture-perfect Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda (Ana de Armas) Van Allen to discover the dangerous mind games they play and what happens to the people that get caught up in them.
Deep Water Age Approprite Parents Guide
Let’s take a look at what parents need to know before letting their kids watch Hulu’s Deep Water.
Language: Deep Water contains strong language, with profanity used throughout. Lookout words include: f*ck, sh*t, a**h*le, d*mn, and phrases like “Jesus Christ.”
Violence: The film’s theme revolves around disappearances and murders of characters, so the violent scenes are scattered throughout the film. These include: a scene with a character being drowned in a pool, a character falling and breaking their neck, and a scene showing a character fatally hitting another by smashing a rock on their head.
Sexual Content/Nudity: Deep Water centers around adultery, so married characters are shown making out and having implied sex with men outside of their marriage. There are additional scenes showing the couple having sex, moaning, putting a hand between their legs, and partial nudity. Side breast and underwear shots are revealed in the film.
Alcohol: Characters in the film consume alcohol, and there is a scene in which a character gives wine to a little girl.
Overall Thoughts
Hulu’s Deep Water had all the potential for an intriguing, erotic, suspenseful thriller, but failed to deliver on all fronts. The biggest problem is that the film tries to fit in too much while glancing over the most interesting aspects of the plot. The mystery surrounding the disappearances, the affairs, and the turbulent relationship of the married couple should have been the focus, instead of muddling the storyline with dinner parties and snails. Yes, snails seem to be Vic’s choice of pet, and while it seems important enough to add this to the film, the bizarre hobby was never fully explained and is irrelevant to the plot.
Deep Water stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, who recently starred in the Bond flick No Time To Die. While both actors are extremely talented and come with a prestigious resume of films under their belts, their lack of chemistry onscreen was the nail that sealed the coffin on the film. This may come as no surprise to many viewers who have seen the trailer and witnessed the awkward scene where de Armas places Affleck’s hand between her legs and begins to loudly moan. That particular scene, and other moments the two shared together, felt forced and uncomfortable. Ana de Armas exudes the sensuality that the role calls for, and it is unfortunate that the two could not click, because the erotic scenes together could have been intense. It needs to be mentioned that the two used to date for about a year, ending in January 2021. One would think this could obviously be the reason they did not click onscreen. However, filming occurred before they began their relationship. This may have been a huge red flag for them, but perhaps they didn’t see the final cut before they made their decision. Truthfully, Affleck seems to have been miscast in the role and brought no emotion or effort to the part whatsoever.
Deep Water has all the makings of a successful film; it has an intriguing plot, a star-studded cast, and even a director, Adrian Lyne, who is known for her erotic thrillers such as Unfaithful and Fatal Attraction, yet it completely misses the mark. Instead, this erotic thriller delivers no thrills or sensuality. I would have to chalk this one up as a complete misfire. Everything about this movie looks good on paper, but the execution and ultimate end product have nothing to offer that hasn’t been done better in the past.
