Deep Water (2022)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A couple's complicated arrangement and a series of secrets lead to a deadly spiral of suspicion and violence.
The story
Melinda and Vic Van Allen live in Little Wesley, Louisiana, maintaining a precarious arrangement where they sleep apart and Melinda takes lovers openly. Vic, who has retired early, finds solace in his collection of snails while struggling with jealousy over Melinda's lack of passion for him. When Melinda invites her latest lover, Joel, to a party, Vic confronts him with the claim that he murdered Melinda's previous lover, Martin. As the truth of the missing man begins to circulate among their friends, the tension between the couple escalates, and the line between their private lives and the dangerous secrets they keep begins to blur.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Melinda and Vic Van Allen live in Little Wesley, Louisiana, in a marriage where Melinda takes lovers openly while Vic remains jealous. When Melinda's lover Joel arrives at a party, Vic tells him he murdered Melinda's previous lover, Martin. After a news report reveals Martin's body was found, tensions rise. Vic later confronts Melinda's new lover, Charlie, and after a pool party, Charlie is found drowned; Melinda accuses Vic of the murder. The situation escalates when Vic discovers their friends have hired a private investigator. Later, Melinda reconnects with an old boyfriend, Tony, and plans to move to Brazil. To stop him, Vic lures Tony to a secluded spot and pushes him off a cliff into a creek. During a picnic at the same spot, Vic shows Melinda photos of her, but they spot Tony's body. The next day, while Vic is trying to hide the body, he is spotted by a friend, Don. During a chase, Don crashes his car off a cliff and dies. Back at home, Melinda finds Tony's wallet in Vic's snail collection. She burns his identification and tells Vic she 'saw Tony'.
- First release year
- 2022
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Adrian Lyne
- Writers
- Zach Helm · screenplay; Sam Levinson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Ben Affleck · Vic; Ana de Armas · Melinda; Tracy Letts; Lil Rel Howery; Dash Mihok; Finn Wittrock; Kristen Connolly; Jacob Elordi
- Genres
- erotic; psychological thriller; mystery; romance
- Themes
- Obsession; Marital Warfare; Secrets; Jealousy
- Tone and mood
- Erotic; Psychological; Tense; Suspenseful
- Setting
- Little Wesley, Louisiana
- Premise and plot tags
- Open Marriage; Murder Mystery; Psychological Thriller; Erotic Thriller
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1957 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith
- Content notes
- Sexuality
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 53 · scale: 100 · review count: 46
- Production trivia
- It marks Adrian Lyne's return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence.; The film was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.; The film was released on Hulu in the U.S. and Amazon Prime Video internationally.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…