We hardly pay any mind to the entangled politics that go beyond a seemingly stable marriage, jealousy, mind games, and, in some cases, murder. In 2022, following the streaming success of Malcolm & Marie, Adrian Lyne and Sam Levison turned their attention to a 1950s novel, bringing it to the world half a century on, telling a story that was almost lost in Deep Water.

Meet the Van Allens; a family from Louisiana that looks like they’re a happy family with a happy social life, despite the fact, they’re in the middle of a complicated relationship, and the marriage must remain strictly open. That is until one of Melinda’s partners is murdered. Is this death down to the jealousy brewing inside Vic’s mind, he certainly thinks so, as there are a lot of signs pointing to him, or is he being manipulated? With many games of secrets and affairs, what lies behind the closed doors of the seemingly straightforward suburban home, as the friends and family begin to investigate.

Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck star in this streaming film (pulled from cinemas due to recent events). Affleck’s roles are diverse enough that you may have seen him in other projects similar to this, like Gone Girl, or remember his Batman, or remember helping Jason Bateman cheat on his wife. He stars alongside Ana de Armas, who has been a constantly rising star since 2009 and shone in examples such as No Time To Die or, more recently, in Netflix’s adaptation of Blonde. Their meeting like this, in a project like this, feels like a fine fit.

While this may seem a tad more tame compared to the more artistically unflinching achievements, that is because Levison et al. stayed within the lines of this adaption. Making Deep Water notably one of the first and only times that we have seen Levison not stick to his inventions, merely adapting. He also isn’t in the director’s chair here, as Adrian Lyne returns after an almost two-decade absence. The end results are warped in drama and intrigue, almost like a throwback to the abundance of early 90s boudoir thrillers that spared nothing in mixing a caper of life and death with scantily clad talents. While some oppose the supposed recent prevalence of nudity that they decry as unnecessarily commonplace in films, it is refreshing a familiar step back into history, especially compared to other recent dramas and films.

Not as steamy as the 90s thrillers that dominated the market, but still worth it to see the likes of de Armas and Affleck engage in a more mature thriller. While not extinct in the modern film landscape, it does feel like a return to a different time, with new and old talent returning in front of and behind the camera. Despite outward appearances, the film has a lot of tantalising secrets lying underneath its deceptive surface, much like the eponymous Deep Water in its title.

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