esotericbonanza

Vividly shot on location, this is a fantastically alive film, springing nervously and excitedly around the most immediate of instinctual feelings. Managing with precision to communicate the sensory effect of these emotions, Deep End is almost a primal film, and is told largely from the perspective of its lead male character, mirroring his understanding of the world as one of absolutes and intensities. Snappily edited and perceptively performed, this is an indelible experience.

Very strange and complex, this is a movie with a thick, heady atmosphere. It's very difficult to categorize, and with its oblique and stately style, it's rather more akin to one of those misty European existential psycho-dramas of the 1970s than it is to a contemporary, straight-ahead horror film. In fact, it's an often challenging movie, with a sorrowful tone and elliptical approach requiring concentration from the viewer.

Often very beautifully filmed, refreshingly female-centric and given to sliding from one genre to another, this is an unusual, doomy and dreamy film; it's very ambiguous, particularly in its conclusions, but if the viewer is in tune with its mood, they will find something quite rich waiting to be unwrapped. Certainly rewarding for when you really crave something off the beaten path.