After watching the movie, do you have more questions than answers? Let me help you find the hidden meaning behind the movie Deep Waters and also explain what the movie’s ending means.
Deep Waters (2022) is based on the painting of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. The psychological thriller starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. This is a story about a married couple who are mired in lies and constant suspicions. Only will the characters manage to find a common language and revive their sincere relationship?! Let’s analyze the film “Deep Waters” (2022) to understand its hidden meaning.
What is Deep Water (2022) about?
Spouses Vic and Melinda Van Allen live in a small town. The couple have a daughter, Trixie. The man is a successful robotics engineer. He was involved in the development of control chips that were embedded in combat drones. This activity helped Vic to make a huge fortune. Only in the personal relationship of the spouses everything is not so smooth. Melinda has grown cold towards her husband. She does not feel any strong emotions towards him. The woman even had lovers, because her marriage with Vic has long been “bursting at the seams.” Only Melinda does not consider herself guilty of what happened. Her betrayals have already become known to the entire environment of the couple. Vik is not pleased with this whole situation, but the man is in no hurry to file for divorce. The character loves his wife and each time forgives her for her adventures.
One day, at a party where Vic was also present, Melinda called her next lover, Joel Dash. The deceived husband decided to talk to his rival. Vic told the musician that it was he who took the life of his wife’s previous lover. Indeed, Martin McRae disappeared without a trace a month ago. Joel seriously fears for his life, so he stops all communication with Melinda. However, it soon becomes known that Martin was shot by another person, and Vic was just joking badly.
Melinda has a new lover. A woman invites a piano teacher to a poolside party at the couple’s close friends’ house. Vic has a fit of rage when he finds Melinda in Charlie’s arms. The sudden onset of rain forces all those gathered to go into the room. Left alone with his wife’s lover, a jealous husband strangles his offender. Melinda soon begins to worry that Charlie is nowhere to be found. A woman discovers her lover’s corpse in the pool.
Under interrogation, Melinda tries to convince the cops that Vic is responsible for Charlie’s death. However, there is no evidence against the character. Law enforcement officers concluded that death was the result of an accident. Only writer Don Wilson listened to the heroine’s suspicions. He suggests that Melinda seek the help of a private detective who can establish surveillance of Vic. To prove her husband’s involvement in Charlie’s death, a woman needs compromising evidence. It is not until Vic notices that he is being followed.
After a while, the heroine starts a relationship with a school friend. Overwhelmed by jealousy, Vic again cannot control himself. The man comes up with an excuse, under which he takes Tony into the forest. Once in a deserted place, Vic kills his wife’s lover. The man hid the body of the character in the stream. A few days later, Vic returns to the crime scene to retrieve the item he dropped there. However, unexpectedly for himself, he meets the writer Don Wilson, who intends to hand over the character to the police.
The Meaning of Deep Waters (2022)
Initially, it may seem to the audience that the life of Vic and Melinda was a success, because the spouses have everything one can dream of. Gorgeous mansion, daughter, wealthy friends. Only their tank can hardly be called exemplary. The woman understands that their relationship can no longer be saved, so she does not even try to hide her betrayals. But Vic is not going to give up. Over and over again, he forgives his wife for her betrayal. Only suddenly the heroine’s lover was found dead. The couple themselves did not notice how they fell into the deep waters of lies, hypocrisy and doubt.
The film “Deep Waters” is a story about temptations and what follows them. Outwardly prosperous family conceals many secrets. Melinda desperately demands some attention from her husband. Only she does not find an emotional response. It is vital for her to feel like a woman, so she begins to look for a lover. The heroine has her own views on life and her principles. The woman does not think that she is doing something wrong. Can she be blamed for this? A difficult question that each viewer must answer for himself.
Vic loves his wife, she is for him the embodiment of femininity and beauty. However, he rarely touches her. Melinda is his ideal. He looks at her passionately, with trepidation. Only in the relationship of the spouses the spark that once connected them has long gone out. Vic now resembles a sad man who wanders aimlessly through life.
The creators of the film “Deep Waters” tried to examine the institution of marriage for strength through the prism of betrayal and lies. The husband, knowing about the infidelity of his wife, is trying with all his might to save the marriage. He does not want to let go of his wife, he tries to keep her close to him. The woman wants to prove to herself that under no circumstances will her husband leave her, will not leave her. Each of the spouses pursues their own goals.
Why did Melinda start dating other men?
From time to time, Melinda called her husband “boring”. Vic, however, was not a bore, but withdrawn and therefore a little inexpressive. Melinda thought it was cold, and so husband and wife slept in separate rooms. Melinda probably went with Vic because he was rich and also the father of her daughter Trixie. She preferred to live with a boring man under the same roof, but decided to have fun outside of marriage because these romantic adventures ignited her passion. Melinda knew that the men she interacted with were stupid but funny.
However, every time Vic did something out of the ordinary, Melinda was aroused by it, and the couple made love to each other. During Jess and Grantz’s party, Melinda asked Vic to dance with her, but Vic refused, likely due to his shyness. But later, during another house party, Kelly Wilson, the wife of author Don Wilson, asked Vic to dance, which he did not refuse. Watching Vic dance with Kelly not only made Melinda jealous, but also aroused desire for her husband, whom she saw in the arms of another woman.
But this love and desire did not last long, and Melinda began dating her piano teacher, Charlie De Lisle. In the case of Charlie, Vic tried to prevent Melinda from seeing him, and when she didn’t show up for the night, Vic sent his daughter away and finally decided to confront Melinda. This was the time when Vic raised his voice against Melinda’s infidelity, and perhaps Melinda wanted Vic to speak out against her, but he didn’t. She believed it was either the lack of passion in their marriage, or that Vic didn’t love her anymore, so he let his wife fool around. Maybe Melinda wanted to belong, or someone who romantically tamed her wild spirit, but Vic was too shy or afraid to lose her and therefore never tried to stop her in the way he should have. Instead, he started killing Melinda’s lover to keep them away from his wife.
Explanation of the ending of the film “Deep Waters”
The meaning of the final episodes of the film “Deep Water” is that it is never too late to revive the old love and save the relationship, even if the spouses are already almost desperate. Hope should not die, it is important to believe in the best and hope for a favorable outcome.
Vic showed true anger, as if he was fighting for his wife. In a fit of jealousy, rage, he did terrible things, but he could not stop. His wife meant too much to him. Passions boiled inside the character, but his face remained cold-blooded. The hero of history skillfully concealed all his emotions behind a mask of indifference. His wife was his opposite. The heroine was hysterical, screaming, splashing out her emotions. She can be called a woman-element, sweeping away everything in its path. The characters had to go through difficult tests in order to test their relationship for strength, to realize whether they needed each other. However, the ending of this story turned out to be open, because the spouses do not intend to stop their incredible game.
I hope I have helped you to find the meaning of the film “Deep Waters”, as well as understand its ending. If you have a different vision of the film, write your version in the comments.
Will Vic kill Melinda too?
In the original text (novel by Patricia Highsmith), when Melinda finds out about Vic’s psychotic murders, Vic strangles her to death to avoid arrest. But he’s not in the movie (at least not by the end of the movie). The reason for this is revealed in the scene where Vic asks Melinda if she thinks he killed Charlie, why isn’t she afraid of him? At this point, Melinda assumes that she knows why he killed, and therefore is sure that he will never harm her.
Maybe Melinda will get bored with Vic again, or she will lose her passion in marriage, which will prompt her to cheat again, but then there is Vic who will kill again so that other men won’t see his wife. Maybe this spiral will loop, because every time Melinda cheats or Vic kills, it brings passion back into their marriage, which is a bit of a mess, but okay. It’s pulp fiction, or at least we can say so.
