''The Deep End'' is a 2001 American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by David Siegel and

Scott McGehee Scott McGehee (born April 20, 1962) is an American filmmaker. He is a Columbia University graduate and did graduate work in the Rhetoric department at UC Berkeley. He was born in California, and currently resides in New York City. McGehee is o ...

. It stars

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Goran Visnjic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...

Jonathan Tucker Jonathan Moss Tucker (born May 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1999), '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003), ''Hostage'' (2005), '' In the Valley of Elah'' (2007), '' The Ruins'' ( ...

and

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including '' American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (20 ...

and was released by

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...

. The film was very loosely adapted from the novel ''The Blank Wall'' by

Elisabeth Sanxay Holding Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (1889–1955) was an American novelist and short story writer. She primarily authored fiction in the hardboiled subgenre of detective novels. Life and career Born June 18, 1889, in Brooklyn, New York, Sanxay attended M ...

(filmed before by

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...

as ''

The Reckless Moment ''The Reckless Moment'' is a 1949 American film noir melodrama directed by Max Ophüls, produced by Walter Wanger, and released by Columbia Pictures with Burnett Guffey as cinematographer. It starred James Mason and Joan Bennett. The film is based ...

''). The film premiered in competition at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

where English cinematographer

Giles Nuttgens Giles Nuttgens (born 1960), BSC is a British cinematographer, perhaps best known for the 2016 film '' Hell or High Water'', for which he received a 2017 BAFTA nomination and 2020 film Enola Holmes. Fans of independent art house fare may also ...

won the Best Cinematography award.

Plot

Margaret Hall (

) and her family live an

upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...

life in

Tahoe City Tahoe City (formerly Tahoe) is an unincorporated town in Placer County, California. Tahoe City is located on the shore of Lake Tahoe, at the outlet of the Truckee River. The site was surveyed in 1863, and Tahoe House was built in 1864. The Taho ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Her husband is a pilot on the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

USS ''Constellation''. She is startled to discover that her son Beau (

), a high school senior, has been having a sexual affair with 30-year-old

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, night club owner Darby Reese (

). Margaret visits Reese's nightclub, The Deep End, to demand that he stay away from her son. That night, Reese secretly visits Beau and the two meet in the boathouse. Beau confronts him about asking his mother for money. The two argue, eventually coming to blows. As Beau returns to the house, Reese leans on a railing, causing it to collapse, and falls into the water, impaling himself on an anchor. The next morning, Margaret discovers Reese's body on the beach. Margaret removes the body and dumps it in a cove but it is soon discovered and the police investigate it as a homicide. Soon after, a man named Alek Spera (

Goran Višnjić Goran Višnjić (; born 9 September 1972) is a Croatian actor who has appeared in American and British films and television productions. He is best known in the United States for his roles as Dr. Luka Kovač in '' ER'' and Garcia Flynn in '' Tim ...

) confronts Margaret with a tape of Darby and Beau having sex. Alek demands $50,000 in 24 hours or he will turn the tape over to the police, which would implicate Beau in Reese's "murder". Margaret struggles unsuccessfully to get the money by selling all her jewels. Alek calls Margaret the next day and tells her that she needs to get only $25,000 but Alek's partner, Nagle (

Raymond J. Barry Raymond John Barry (born March 14, 1939) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the film ''Steel City (film), Steel City''. Personal life ...

) is convinced she is lying about not being able to raise the money. Nagle corners and beats Margaret but Alek arrives and the two men scuffle, and Alek strangles Nagle. Margaret attempts to take responsibility for Nagle's death, but Alek takes the body away in Nagle's car. As Margaret and her son drive looking for Nagle's car, they see it overturned in a ditch. Margaret attempts to free Alek, who is critically injured. Alek pleads with her to leave before the police arrive. Margaret stays until Alek dies. Back at home, Margaret, in a state of distress, is comforted by Beau. Another phone call is heard coming in from the absent husband, answered by Beau's sister. The Halls' normal life resumes.

Cast

as Margaret Hall *

as Alek Spera *

as Beau Hall *

Peter Donat Peter Donat (born Pierre Collingwood Donat; January 20, 1928 – September 10, 2018) was a Canadian-American actor. Early life Pierre Collingwood Donat was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of Marie (née Bardet) and Philip Ernst ...

as Jack Hall *

as Darby Reese *

as Carlie Nagle *

Tamara Hope Tamara Lindeman (born November 2, 1984), also known by the name Tamara Hope, is a Canadian actress and musician. Her starring roles include ''Guinevere Jones'' and ''The Nickel Children'', as well as a recurring role on CTV's ''Whistler'' as Le ...

as Paige Hal * Jordon Dorrance as Dylan Hall * Holmes Osborne as Loan Officer

Reception

''The Deep End'' received positive reviews from critics and put actress Tilda Swinton on Hollywood's radar. Despite years of previous credits, it is considered her breakout role. Currently, it holds an 82% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 116 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film had an average score of 78 out of 100, based on 27 reviews from film critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deep End, The 2001 crime drama films 2001 independent films 2001 LGBT-related films 2001 films American crime drama films American independent films American LGBT-related films 2000s English-language films Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Fox Searchlight Pictures films Gay-related films American neo-noir films 2001 drama films Films about mother–son relationships LGBT-related drama films 2000s American films