The Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas-starring psychological thriller, Deep Water, ends with another twist for Vic and Melinda’s dangerous mind-games. Directed by Adrian Lyne, who is known for his past erotic thrillers and dramas like 1987’s Fatal Attraction and 1993’s Indecent Proposal, Deep Water is a twisted tale of the seemingly loveless marriage between Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda Van Allen (Ana de Armas). Adapted from the 1957 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith, Hulu’s Deep Water crafts a new ending to the story that adds more complex nuances to the characters’ high-stakes romance.
Deep Water, which is primarily told from the perspective of Vic, follows the manipulative couple as they raise their six-year-old daughter in a tight-knit community where gossip spreads like wildfire. Since Vic lacks a certain passion that Melinda seeks, the couple has entered an agreement in which Ana de Armas’ character is allowed to take lovers as long as she doesn’t break up their family. Deep Water sees the couple’s publicly-broadcasted arrangement take a twisted turn when Vic begins to crack, which leads to dire consequences for those who get caught in the middle of their growing mind-games.
By the end of Disney’s buried 2022 movie Deep Water, which was acquired in its 20th Century Fox deal, several people connected to Vic and Melinda’s romantic entanglements have died, with the final act cementing the twisted dynamic between the main couple. Amid all the death, anger, and immoral conflicts, Melinda and Vic’s marriage comes out of Deep Water stronger than ever – providing a clear contrast between the seemingly quintessential suburban romances of their friends. The outward appearances of Vic and Melinda seem to show a pleasant, even-tempered, even slightly pathetic guy and a center-of-attention, sexually empowered woman, but below the surface tells a completely different story, as exemplified by Deep Water’s twist ending.
What Happens In Deep Water’s Ending
Deep Water ends with Vic and Melinda finally feeling more passionate in their marriage, albeit after he has killed two of her lovers in cold blood. Although Melinda was sure that Vic had killed her lover Charlie (Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi), she becomes more attracted to Vic and doesn’t immediately accuse him of involvement when she hasn’t heard from her latest paramour, Tony (Finn Wittrock). After a pleasant picnic with Melinda and Trixie, Vic returns to the river to better hide the body of Tony, only for Melinda to simultaneously find Tony’s wallet inside a box of Vic’s snails. Melinda calls Don, a new neighbor who suspects Ben Affleck’s Deep Water character of killing Charlie, whereafter Don confronts Vic at the gorge. After seeing Vic moving Tony’s body, Don drives in his car to tell the police, with Vic hopping on his bike to stop Don. When Vic rides his bike in the direct path of Don’s car, Tracy Letts’ character swerves off the road, falling to his death as he drives off a cliff.
At home, the Van Allens’ daughter Trixie sees that Melinda has packed a suitcase, so she throws it into the pool and tells Blonde actress Ana de Armas’ character that they’re not leaving. When Vic returns home, he finds Melinda sitting on the stairs with a slight smile on her face, only for the movie to cut to Deep Water‘s Melinda burning all of Tony’s licenses that she found with Vic’s snails. By the end of Deep Water, all is well for the Van Allens’ marriage.
Why Vic Lied To Joel About Killing Martin McCrae
Deep Water’s true drama begin when Vic confronts the Melinda’s lover, Joel, at a party. Vic tells him that he killed Martin McCrae, Melinda’s last lover who went missing, as a way to scare Joel off. Deep Water’s characters typically take Vic’s statement as a joke, though it successfully scares off Joel and leaves screenwriter Don increasingly suspicious. Vic tells Melinda that it was an innocent joke after she becomes angry, but Deep Water hints that malintent lies beneath Vic’s seemingly indifferent demeanor. Later in Deep Water, it’s revealed that Vic truly didn’t kill McCrae, as he told Joel he killed him with a hammer when he was actually murdered with a gun, and the real person responsible was apprehended.
While Deep Water‘s snail-obsessed Vic and his friends maintained that his lie about killing Martin McCrae was just a joke, it was really the beginning of Vic’s anger and jealousy boiling over the surface. Since Vic would truly go on to kill two of Melinda’s lovers, telling this lie seemed to be a mistake, as he would become the first suspect when Deep Water’s Charlie and Tony turned up dead or missing. In reality, it appears Vic was bored with his indifference to Melinda’s affairs, but the rush from finally standing up to one of Melinda’s lovers fired a passion in their marriage that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Ben Affleck’s character also knew that he could get away with this unscathed since nobody in Deep Water felt he was capable of such a thing when considering how surprised they were when they found out he could dance.
How Trixie Knows That Vic Killed Charlie
One of the most mysterious Deep Water characters is Trixie Van Allen, Vic and Melinda’s 6-year-old daughter. It’s established that she’s much more intelligent and mature than her age would suggest, with Deep Water’s scene with Trixie and Vic discussing Charlie’s death hinting that she knows much more about her parents’ marriage than they’ll let on. After Charlie dies and Vic is the main suspect, Trixie tells her dad that she thinks it was him who killed Melinda’s lover. Vic says he didn’t, but Trixie maintains that she thinks he killed Charlie, though she’s simply upset that he won’t tell her how he killed him. At the end of Deep Water, Trixie throws Melinda’s packed suitcase into the pool and says they’re not leaving, suggesting Trixie really knows everything that’s going on but still wants her family to stay together. Since Trixie and Vic are much closer than Trixie and Ana de Armas’ Melinda, it seems Deep Water’s young character even supports what Vic does, as she is just as fed up with Melinda’s affairs as Ben Affleck’s character.
Why Melinda Helped Cover Up Tony’s Murder
Although Melinda had tipped off Don about Vic having something to do with the disappearance of Tony, Deep Water’s ending sees her burn his licenses just moments later. This occurs after Trixie throws Melinda’s suitcase in the pool and tells her they’re not leaving, suggesting Ana de Armas’ character now sees that keeping her family together is more important. Melinda had spent Deep Water maintaining that Vic had no passion nor did he even love her, but his violent urges toward her lovers restores the spark in their marriage.
Melinda repeatedly tells Vic she loves him, though his inability to convincingly return the sentiment sends her astray – until she realizes that killing and threatening these men is his sick way of showing love. James Bond fan favorite Ana de Armas’ character had been utterly bored in their marriage, but Vic’s unhinged behavior proved that he was no longer boring to her. At the same time, Melinda had only just asked Vic why he was the only one who stayed with her, suggesting that even though his passion was demonstrated by murder, he’d do anything to stay with her, so she returned the gesture by helping cover up Tony’s death.
What’s Next For Melinda And Vic After Deep Water
Melinda and Vic’s toxic marriage saw the deaths of at least three people in their town but ended Deep Water with their relationship stronger than ever. Since Don wasn’t able to send his text to Kelly about being right about Vic before he died, there’s nobody aside from Vic, Melinda, and Trixie who could provide evidence that Ben Affleck’s Vic – a clever subversion of his Gone Girl character – murdered anyone. With Melinda choosing to keep their family together rather than move away and expose Vic’s crimes, the couple will be able to return to their mask as a typical suburban couple. It’s unclear whether their marriage after Deep Water will continue to see more lovers or murders, but Melinda and Vic’s passion being returned by these ordeals hints they’ll keep playing twisted mind-games as long as it keeps their family together.
What Deep Water’s Ending Really Means
Deep Water’s roller-coaster ride of a story is about the facades that suburban couples may put on after becoming bored in their marriages, and the lengths they may go to stay together and maintain their “picture-perfect” charade. Disney’s movie is an extreme example of this phenomenon but takes from many real-life marital struggles around infidelity, maintaining a family, and reduced passion over time. The uncertainty of Ben Affleck’s Deep Water kill count and the larger story portrays the idea that every relationship looks different to those inside them, as the projection of Vic’s mild-mannered, indifferent persona is truly a mask he puts on when, in reality, he’s a ticking time-bomb of anger and violence.
In the end, Deep Water is a twisted tale of a toxic marriage in which they finally demonstrate their love, renew their passion, and reach a climactic, unifying agreement wherein the core couple is complicit in each other’s immorality: Vic by Melinda’s infidelity, and Melinda by Vic’s homicides. While the majority of Adrian Lyne’s erotic thrillers end in the madness concluding once the pair are brought closer together or resolve their conflicts, Deep Water’s ending provides a different outlook. The end of Deep Water instead suggests Vic and Melinda’s back-and-forth turmoil will continue, and sordidly makes them a stronger couple through the complicity in one another’s sin.
What The Deep Water Ending Song Means
Deep Water‘s soundtrack takes a sinister turn in its conclusion. At the very end of the movie, Trixie is shown to be singing the song “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” by Leo Sayer. While it may seem like a sweet moment as a six-year-old is singing the tune, it’s actually a rather sinister way to wrap up the film. Throughout the movie, both Vic and Melinda continue to make increasingly dangerous choices at each other’s expense. What’s worse is that their young daughter is privy to everything that’s going on in their relationship, including Melinda’s affairs and Vic’s murders. Trixie sees what’s going on between her parents, as they hardly try to even hide their abysmal choices. However, rather than be repulsed by her parents, what makes Deep Water‘s ending disturbing is that she loves them nonetheless, identifies with the family, and even chooses understanding when singing “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.”
The song “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” is about total romantic devotion. The tune not only represents Trixie’s relationship with her parents but also Melinda and Vic’s relationship. In actuality, the song is representative of the family as a whole. Vic is driven to kill for the sake of jealousy as Melinda continues her mounting list of affairs. When Melinda finds out about Vic’s actions, rather than being horrified or fearful, she claims that she’s not afraid of him because he did the killing “for her.” In the end, Melinda helps Vic cover up his crimes, and she does this out of total devotion. Trixie and Vic have a more meaningful relationship than she does with her mother, which could play a part in how she has a similar reaction to Melinda upon the revelation of Vic’s murders. She doesn’t fault her father for killing Charlie. In fact, the only thing she’s furious about is that he wouldn’t divulge how he did it. At the conclusion of Deep Water, the family chooses to stay together out of the sick codependent love that they share for one another.
