Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas Are Hot in ‘Deep Water’—but the Script is Flaccid
If there’s one thing the public came to know about Deep Water stars Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck during their stint as a real-life couple, it’s that they both know how to put on a show. Coordinating outfits, conspicuous dog walks, and an intentionally goofy cardboard cutout came to define one of the most talked-about celebrity pairings in recent memory. Unfortunately, the erotic thriller that reportedly introduced them never quite reaches the same dramatic highs as the real thing.
On Friday, after seemingly endless delays, Deep Water finally makes its debut on Hulu. The film marks a long-awaited return for Fatal Attraction director Adrian Lyne, whose last release was 2002’s Unfaithful, and finds Affleck playing a dead-eyed tech mogul named Vic Van Allen whose wife, Melinda (de Armas), loves nothing more than parading her lovers in front of him and his friends. The former couple’s chemistry oozes off the screen, and de Armas carries the film with a performance that revels in wickedness and pent-up rage. But as entertaining as these two might be together, they can only do so much to make up for a flaccid script.
Deep Water brings to screen yet another novel from Patricia Highsmith, whose works also include Carol and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Zach Helm and Euphoria maestro Sam Levinson wrote the screenplay, which (not unlike the glitter-coated HBO series) struggles more than anything with pacing. A gradual, torturous build-up of tension is the heartbeat of any successful erotic thriller; this film prefers to pound out the same note over and over again, reducing its pulse to little more than a flatline.