Sad Affleck gets his revenge in Hulu’s erotic thriller throwback Deep Water

polygon.com:

There’s something pleasurably disreputable about Adrian Lyne’s twisted domestic drama Deep Water — a trashy, tabloid scandalousness that’s almost quaint. It’s the first film in 20 years from Lyne, who ruled the erotic-thriller genre of the 1980s and ’90s with a string of steamy smash hits like Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal. The film, which comes directly to Hulu on March 18, stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, who began a headline-grabbing romance on set, but split long before the producers of the pandemic-delayed film could spin a publicity campaign around them. Even the manner of its release carries a whiff of opprobrium, of something illicit. Disney, which acquired the movie when it bought 20th Century Fox, delayed it twice before pulling its theatrical release altogether, eventually palming it off on Hulu (and Amazon, for international release) with almost tangible distaste. Could it be so perverted, so out of step with the times, or just so plain bad?

“Not really” is the answer to all three questions. True to Lyne’s form, Deep Water is a slick, entertaining cod-psychological thriller, just classy enough to be aspirational, and just seedy enough to satisfy a craving for cinematic junk food. And while its fate might seem ignominious for a film that was once perceived, by its producers at least, as a prestige production — they were clearly fishing for another Gone Girl — it’s a perfect prospect for a Friday night in with a bucket-sized glass of wine.

Deep Water is based on the classic 1957 novel by The Talented Mr. Ripley author Patricia Highsmith at her sour, misanthropic best. Highsmith loved nothing more than to pin down, with sadistic precision, the frustrated, dark desires of the suburban American male.