The Deep End
2001 Directed by Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Synopsis
With her husband perpetually away at work, a mother raises her children virtually alone. Her teenage son is testing the waters of the adult world, and early one morning she wakes to find the dead body of his gay lover on the beach of their rural lakeside home. What would you do? What is rational and what do you do to protect your child? How far do you go and when do you stop?
Popular reviews
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Another lost gem of the noughties. While it's not a groundbreaking genre piece, this intriguing and taut little thriller slowly grips you all the way to it's emotionally charged climax.
The Deep End mainly earns your attention due to an early, fantastic performance by Tilda Swinton. It was actually this film that kicked her career off in the big leagues. Here, Swinton is astonishing: fragile, headstrong and determined to protect what she holds dear - her family. She's the beating heart of the film while other characters are either under-appreciating her or intimidating her. The supporting cast is also stand-out: Josh Lucas delicatably balances charm and creepiness in equal measure while Goran Visnjic adds gravitas as the morally conflicted crook.…
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Review from my VOD column "This Week on Demand"
Released just last month was What Maisie Knew, the fifth film from directorial team Scott McGehee and David Siegel. The pair first garnered attention for their second feature, The Deep End, a delicately observed family drama that uses the horror of a mother on discovering her teenage son’s gay lover dead outside their home as a narrative complication that ingeniously belies the underlying thematic simplicity. Tilda Swinton is, as ever, an immense anchor to the film, carrying it through some troubling script weaknesses with the raw power of her performance, at once embodying the best and worst of middle-class America. McGehee and Siegel impose pleasingly expressive visuals upon proceedings, the excessive…
Recent reviews
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Sundance Film Festival. The day after the film we ran into Tilda Swinton walking into a diner for breakfast. She was a very nice person and tall. This movie was also really good.
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Review from my VOD column "This Week on Demand"
Released just last month was What Maisie Knew, the fifth film from directorial team Scott McGehee and David Siegel. The pair first garnered attention for their second feature, The Deep End, a delicately observed family drama that uses the horror of a mother on discovering her teenage son’s gay lover dead outside their home as a narrative complication that ingeniously belies the underlying thematic simplicity. Tilda Swinton is, as ever, an immense anchor to the film, carrying it through some troubling script weaknesses with the raw power of her performance, at once embodying the best and worst of middle-class America. McGehee and Siegel impose pleasingly expressive visuals upon proceedings, the excessive…
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I remember much indie-level buzz over this during its initial run, though I missed it at the time. Tilda Swinton and stumbling over a thrift-store copy drew me back in. A fairly well done neo-noir that I suspect got a little extra attention at the time because of Swinton's character getting into the usual trouble over protecting her gay son rather than some more heteronormative conceit. Know who's great in this? Josh Lucas. And Swinton, of course. Plus you get to see her in granny panties, and you don't see that every day.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Another lost gem of the noughties. While it's not a groundbreaking genre piece, this intriguing and taut little thriller slowly grips you all the way to it's emotionally charged climax.
The Deep End mainly earns your attention due to an early, fantastic performance by Tilda Swinton. It was actually this film that kicked her career off in the big leagues. Here, Swinton is astonishing: fragile, headstrong and determined to protect what she holds dear - her family. She's the beating heart of the film while other characters are either under-appreciating her or intimidating her. The supporting cast is also stand-out: Josh Lucas delicatably balances charm and creepiness in equal measure while Goran Visnjic adds gravitas as the morally conflicted crook.…
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Aside from the usual awesomeness of Tilda Swinton, a pretty unmemorable updating of Max Ophuls’ 'The Reckless Moment'. Some naff direction on display, with clunking water motifs crowbarred into the action at every turn (including Swinton reflected in a poorly CG’d drop of tap water!). Good to see Mulder’s dad (Peter Donat) in a small role. Don’t think I’ve seen him in anything since The X Files…
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Surprisingly engaging blackmail thriller.