For the briefest moment in Deep Water's increasingly ridiculous tonal massacre of a climax, there's a slight glimmer that something sort of unique may happen. However, the feeling is fleeting as the film's ending simply confirms what we've already assumed through the previous hour and a half; not only does Deep Water not have any idea what it wants to be, but director Adrian Lyne doesn't seem up to figuring it out himself. Instead, Lyne poses the question, "What if an erotic thriller was devoid of sexuality while also lacking any suspense whatsoever?" The jumbled and maddeningly awkward Deep Water is the answer and it's not something that's worth seeking out.
Plot points are introduced and dropped, characters are introduced and never show up again, Ana De Armas' accent changes in alternate scenes, and perhaps the biggest hit against an erotic thriller, it's decidedly unsexy.
The non-existent chemistry between Affleck and De Armas may or may not be intentional, and to give the pair credit, they try to make the material work.
A film of this incompetence almost rarely gets made at a studio level anymore, and in the era of Marvel films being committee-designed and afraid to make big gambles, films like 'Deep Water' should be cherished for the beautiful disasters that they are.
