Deep Water (2022)

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/deep-water-spoiler-free-review "Deep Water sells itself as an erotic thriller, but it lacks precisely those same components. Adrian Lyne tries to make a comeback after a twenty-year absence from cinema, but Zach Helm and Sam Levinson's screenplay holds too many problems. The protagonists couldn't be more awful people in an incredibly toxic relationship that's frustrating to watch, but their lack of development and inexistent arcs make the narrative feel repetitive, predictable, and lacking intensity. The messy approac…

CinemaSerf

5.0

Apr 4, 2022

Ben Affleck ("Vic) is a successful man married to the gorgeous "Melinda" (Ana de Armas). Unfortunately for him, though, she wants - well, has - more of an open marriage than he might like. Indeed, she frequently all but flaunts her usually handsome and younger lovers in front of him and their friends. When one of her coterie goes missing,"Vic" tells his successor "Jonas" (Dash Mihok) that he killed him with an hammer. True or false? Soon rumours abounds, made worse when one of her other beaux "Charlie" (Jacob Elordi) is found floating in the pool! Is he the culprit? Well, to be honest I didn't…

Jealousy is such a living hell that Claude Chabrol made arguably the definitive film on the subject and literally called it L’Enfer. This is an area of human relations with which Deep Water director Adrian Lyne is very comfortable, having previously directed Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal, Lolita (which I find superior to Kubrick’s version), and Unfaithful (loosely based on Chabrol's La Femme Infidèle. Coincidence?). To call this a retread is somewhat of an understatement, but Lyne is wise to have chosen familiar territory for his return from a 20-year break from directing. Deep Water…