The strength ofBen Affleckas an actor is that it’s possible to believe almost anything about him. He can be a weakling, an uncomplicated genial fellow or a murderer. He can be modest and self-effacing, and also an egomaniac. He can be brilliant or an idiot. He can be the most normal fellow in the world or a cold-blooded weirdo.
The only thing that would seem entirely outside Affleck’s grasp is to play a tower of moral rectitude capable of great sacrifice. But that’s fine because his latest film, “Deep Water,” is an Adrian Lyne film, and the director doesn’t deal in the higher emotions. Lyne is all about the ways in which base impulses make their way to the surface and guide human behavior.
“Deep Water” is the first film directed by Lyne in 20 years. Over the course of a little more than four decades, he has directed only nine feature films, but most of them had everybody talking, including “Flashdance,” “Fatal Attraction,” “9½ Weeks,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “Indecent Proposal” and “Unfaithful.”
Years later, there’s nothing new about the 81-year-old’s sensibility. But it is familiar and welcome, in the way that late-period Hitchcock was familiar and welcome: We know exactly what this guy is about, but it’s still fun watching him do what he does. “Deep Water” is a total Lyne universe.
It begins with a prosperous and good-looking couple, Vic (Affleck) and Melinda (Ana de Armas), preparing to go out to a party. Everything is fine on the surface, and yet something in their dynamic is off. He seems slightly servile. She seems not quite distant but preoccupied. Then they go to the party, and she’s seen openly dancing with and kissing another guy.
It turns out that this is their marriage. She has multiple affairs, and everyone in their circle knows it. He’s not happy about it, but it’s unclear if he plans to do something to change it — or if he has done something about italready: His wife’s previous lover has mysteriously disappeared and is presumed dead.
This is where the mutability of Affleck’s screen image comes into play. Is he passive or enraged, an amiable oaf or a homicidal maniac? Vic seems normal, and then we find out how he made his fortune: He invented the technology that makes drone strikes possible. Whether you approve or not, this is a man at home with the idea of killing people.
Lyne, who has never been known for his sensitive insights into women, views Melinda from the outside as something of a monster. But what a monster — coming home in the early morning hours with her little black dress almost falling off, drunk and taunting her husband with the sexual exploits of the previous evening. “Deep Water” won’t pass the Bechdel Test, but it provides Ana de Armas with her most forceful and mercurial showcase to date.
The film was written by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson (creator of“Euphoria”), based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. Levinson’s name on the script is particularly interesting, as he wrote and directed“Malcolm & Marie,”a chamber drama about the power dynamics of a contentious couple. The blending of that sensibility with the deadpan twistedness of Highsmith, and the gauzy perversity of Lyne, makes for a winning combination.
Highsmith was more interested in crime than Lyne. Lyne is a little more interested in sex, which allows him to take Highsmith’s work a little further, making it even more twisted. Lyne has always gone the extra step, and “Deep Water” shows that he hasn’t lost his touch.
M“Deep Water”:Thriller. Starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. Directed by Adrian Lyne. (R. 115 minutes.) Available to stream on Hulu starting Friday, March 18.