Dead in the Water – Film Review
When aspiring photography vlogger Tara (Catherine Lidstone) gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, her best friend Amy (Angela Gulner) takes her on a weekend getaway to her family’s vacation lake house where a mysterious and effortlessly attractive man crosses their path. They decide he’s the perfect way to spice up their trip, but his presence causes emotions to run high, and suddenly the girls are forced to face the demons between themselves – or is it something more devious?
The very first thought I had in my mind after watching Nanea Miyata‘s Dead in the Water after it was over was “Yet another bad Hallmark movie”, only to find out that it’s not a Hallmark movie at all, but it certainly checks all the boxes. Terrible editing with strange fade-to-blacks? Check. Actors that are probably good but got saddled with a bad script? Check. A predictable storyline? Check. Cheesy dialogue? Check.
Dead in the Water opens up on a fairly decent note that sets up the rest of the story to come. Right from the get-go, we understand what our lead characters’ motivations are which is already a good sign (even if the dialogue in the opening is horrible) and the film seems to want to get going as soon as possible which is another good sign. Sadly, that’s essentially where all the positive qualities of this film end.
Courtesy of Fabrication Films
The script here is extremely thin and the problem is that, for one, the story isn’t interesting enough to warrant an entire feature film out of it, and I think the filmmakers themselves knew that because there are a handful of scenes that are incredibly drawn out with long pauses in between dialogue and actions, more than likely just to pad the runtime out. If they hadn’t done this, the film would’ve been about sixty minutes exactly and would’ve felt incredibly short and rushed.
And, as I mentioned earlier, it’s incredibly predictable. There was a moment about thirty minutes in where I already knew what was going to happen towards the end of the film and sure enough, I was right. Even if you’re not an avid movie watcher, I can almost guarantee that you’ll still be able to predict the film’s ending yourself because it’s just so obvious. The script plays into so many tired clichés, most notably the “Mr. Perfect and can do no wrong” character, even though you know that’s not who he really is.
Angela Gulner and Catherine Lidstone are honestly the least of this movie’s problems – they genuinely are good actors but, unfortunately, they got stuck with a terrible script which in turn, resulted in a terrible movie. I hope these two get more roles in the future, and preferably, good movies because it’s clear that they are talented. It’s just that this particular film was not the right one to display their talents.
A great movie should take you on a journey and make you feel something strong by the time the end credits roll. You should feel like you experienced something. Like you were along for the ride with the main characters and you should get a genuine sense of who these characters are and you should care for their plight. Sadly, I felt completely empty inside whenever Dead in the Water was over. It boasts a boring and predictable script, weak direction, and bad editing. It’s not a Hallmark movie but it sure feels like one. Dead in the Water is dead on arrival.
