The two have reached an apparent understanding, however, that allows her to compensate for his indifference and emotional distance by taking lovers, an unhappily-ever-after dynamic that causes discomfort among their friends, with whom they regularly throw neighborhood parties, mostly due to her brazenness.
As for Vic, he acts unperturbed by his wife’s infidelity, but there’s the little matter of Melinda’s one-time “friend” who has gone missing, and lingering suspicions as to whether he had anything to do with that.
Vic doesn’t seek to quell those rumblings, underscoring the mind games that the couple plays not only with each other, but those around them. When a pulp writer (Tracy Letts) who is new to the community observes that Vic’s “a weird guy,” Vic merely smiles at his wife having said much the same to him and responds, “So I’ve been told.”
Despite the tabloid-tinted side of the star pairing, this once-thriving formula is no longer enough to lift the film’s must-see factor out of the shallow end commercially speaking, which likely explains its debut via streaming, not theaters.
Still, Affleck and de Armas’ generate enough heat to make “Deep Water” worth watching, even if the movie seems destined to generate its biggest splash over what transpired off screen instead of what’s on it.
“Deep Water” premieres March 18 on Hulu. It’s rated R.
