Before the triumphant return of 2003’s hottest celeb couple, Bennifer, last summer, there was the PDA-packed yearlong fling between Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas that ended with bizarre photos of a cardboard cutout of de Armas in Affleck’s trash. One of the most buzzed-about COVID couples, up there with Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, the actors linked up in the early days of the pandemic and their dog walks became a source of unlikely entertainment at a time when we as a nation needed it most.
It almost feels like a fever dream now, but we will always have the many photos of Affleck, Dunkin iced coffee in hand, walking his dog with the down bad Knives Out star laughing exaggeratedly at something he said. And next month, we’ll be able to see the couple reunited on screen in the erotic thriller Deep Water.
The first teaser trailer for Deep Water was released on Monday, and it shows the former flames getting hot and heavy. Adapted from the Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name, Affleck and de Armas play Vic and Melinda Van Allen, a beautiful, seemingly perfect couple hiding dark secrets. Trapped in a loveless marriage but desperate to avoid the messiness of divorce, the two resort to mind games and allow each other to take lovers. Eventually, their unorthodox arrangement has fatal repercussions for those around them.
“Do you love me?” de Armas asks in the short clip, moving Affleck’s hand between her legs. The trailer takes an ominous turn when de Armas suddenly changes her tone, breathily warning, “There’s something wrong with me.”
Deep Water is directed by Adrian Lyne, the mastermind behind sexually-charged psychological thrillers such as 9 ½ Weeks, Fatal Attraction, and Indecent Proposal. It’s Lyne’s first film in nearly 20 years—he last directed Unfaithful, which earned Diane Lane an Oscar nomination, in 2002. Zach Helm and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson penned the script. The cast also includes Tracy Letts, Jacob Elordi, Lil Rey Howery, Dash Mihok, Finn Wittrock, Rachel Blanchard, and Michael Braun.
Strangely, the 20th Century Studios/New Regency film was initially slated for a theatrical release, but Disney pulled it from the calendar and is sending it straight to streaming instead. Deadline reported that the unexpected call was a result of the recent underwhelming box office performance of non-franchise adult fare, like Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Apparently, only Marvel fans go to the movies anymore, if Spider-Man: No Way Home’s record-breaking theatrical run is any indication.
Deep Water premieres on Hulu on March 18. And the film’s press tour should be… interesting.