Deep Water (2022)

'If I really don't like someone, I kill him...'

Imagine this. Your attractive thirty-something wife turns out to be a drunken nymphomaniac. How do you cope? How do you deal with it? If at all? That’s the premise of Deep Water (2022), based on Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller of 1957: ‘One of Miss Highsmith’s most brilliant analyses of psychosis in American suburbia’ and the latest adaptation of Highsmith’s curious and compelling mind to the silver screen. It’s a distinguished line up: Strangers on a Train (1951), Purple Noon (1960), The American Friend (1977), The Talented Mr Ripley (1999), Ripley’s Game (2002) and Carol (2015).

Pan paperback edition, cover design by Sam ‘PEFF’ Peffer.

This one’s difficult to write— without giving too much away. But here goes. Vic Van Allen (Ben Affleck) is a rich, brilliant and stubbled techno-geek, married to a sexy Cuban (or Spanish) wife, Melinda (Ana de Armas), with a desirable house in Louisiana or otherwise somewhere in the Deep South. He’s intense and introspective (a microchip designer) and a teetotaller to boot— the opposite of Melinda, who’s the life and soul of a party: gregarious, flirtatious— rather European when it comes to nudity (‘God, America is so suffocating)— and dead hot. Before we continue, I must confess that I’m a fan of Miss de Armas and her considerable charms. Apart from her obvious attractions, she has that ‘certain something’. It’s hard to define. Star quality, you might call it— the camera loves her. And she’s a bloody good actress too. As the Bond Girl in No Time to Die (2021) (is it time to put 007 out of his misery?), as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde (2022), and as Bel— a cute Spanish girl gone wrong in the vaguely disturbing and erotic home invasion comedy (of sorts) Knock Knock (2015)—another recommendation, which I need to write about.

‘Seducing strange Neanderthal men at pool parties…’

But there’s a snag. Melinda’s in the habit of seducing strange Neanderthal men (Jacob Elordi of Saltburn fame) at pool parties and then sleeping with them, a habit, understandably, which doesn’t go down at all well with Vic. All’s fine and dandy (sort of), and Vic seems like a likeable, nice sort of chap (if a bit intense)— until we discover that the man breeds snails in the basement: ‘orrible, corpulent, slimy beasts copulating away in tanks, a squalid place with humidity sprays and dirty plastic curtains. In fact, at this stage, the only thing keeping them together is their darling little girl, Trixie (Grace Jenkins). Now, I’m not normally a fan of American childhood— ‘Mom, I wanna coke!’ Remember those Airport disaster movies? There was always some cocky little brat looking out of the window of the airliner, doing mathematical calculations in his head, and announcing to the terrified passengers that, actually, the aeroplane was flying towards the Pole Star, off-course and away from the airport. But this one gets away with it (apart from the self-indulgent and inappropriate outtakes added to the final credits).

‘The man breeds snails…’

Ana de Armas: star quality…

And Patricia Highsmith’s brilliant at getting you to side with murderers— or would be murderers. That’s her genius. You’re so with Ripley— or at least I am— when he smashes Murchison over the head with a bottle of Margaux in the cellar of Belle Ombre, his desirable Second Empire villa in the countryside to the west of Paris. In the same way, in Deep Water, when Don Wilson (Tracy Letts), an annoyingly smug, nosy sort of New Yorker writer type, turns up and starts to pry into Vic’s affairs, you’re automatically siding with Vic. That’s very Highsmith.

‘Ubania House, New Orleans: a sense of place…’

As you know, I’m also a fan of films with a sense of place. And there’s lovely location work in Deep Water. It’s real. Vic and Melinda’s house is Urbania House, an 1830s Greek Revival job in New Orleans’ Lower Garden District. This is real life, folks. There’s tatty woodwork, genuine antiques and creaking floorboards. It’s a little bit hipster. A refreshing change from the usual Hollywood diet- the immaculate suburban clapboard house set, decorated with inoffensive Martha Stewart beige and the squeaky good taste of the art director.

‘Deep Water (2020): a film for Grown-Ups…’

This is the most recent film I’ve recommended on Luke Honey's WEEKEND FLICKS. Cinema for Grown Ups so far. And I am pleased that I have, as it's good to have a balance. I like Deep Water, even if the critics were all a bit sniffy— it's a film for grown-ups— and rather old-fashioned in its way— a psychological thriller with a flash of nudity— a rare thing these days, at least in America, in our puritanical 21st century. Younger viewers might find it a trifle slow.

I should also have mentioned the film's director. It's Adrian Lyne— whom you’ll remember from 9½ Weeks (1986), Fatal Attraction (1987), Indecent Proposal (1993) and Lolita (1997). Plus Unfaithful (2002)— the remake of Claude Chabrol's La Femme Infidele (1969), a previous recommendation on Luke Honey's WEEKEND FLICKS. And it's a thumbs up for Deep Water: Ben Affleck puts in an excellent, rather lobotomised performance, Ana's fabulous (as ever), and the locations are to die for. And it's based on a Patricia Highsmith thriller- and you can't get better than that.

I watched Deep Water (2022) on Amazon Prime Video. The film's free for Amazon Prime members. It was first distributed online by Amazon and Hulu (the American subscription streaming service)— according to the excellent Roger Ebert website, 'dumped onto Hulu after Disney bought Fox and had no tolerance for a movie about horny people’.

Incidentally, I am not an Amazon affiliate. I receive no payment when I plug a film on Amazon Prime. And, curiously, you may also be surprised to hear that we don't have Netflix. I tried it for a month but found hardly anything to watch. Amazon, coupled with the excellent BFI plug-in, covers an enormous range of quality films—any leftovers I can always buy on DVD via eBay. I'm more or less covered. I'm not sure if Deep Water was ever officially released on DVD— although there seems to be an All-Region version on Blu-ray. And please don't confuse it with other DVDs. There are several other films with the same name.

Happy Easter! You've just been reading a newsletter for both free and 'paid-for' subscribers. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to all those of you who have signed up. Really appreciated. To view the other films we’ve covered so far, please go to the Luke Honey WEEKEND FLICKS. archive.

I will be back next Friday. In the meantime, I hope you have a relaxing and cinematic Easter Sunday. Why not settle down with a cocktail and a film recommendation this evening? I can’t think of anything more appealing. Civilisation beckons…