This was the only Seattle Film Festival film I went to, and I was pleased to find it better than many mainstream movies I've seen. It was an unnerving mystery that sucked me in and genuinely surprised me.
Peter Coyote's portrayal of a strange motel owner was my favorite part of the film. I've seen Coyote in a lot of movies, and this has got to be the most interesting role I've seen him play yet. You're never sure if you want to love him or fear him, and that ends up working perfectly for the plot.
Deepwater had a lot of creepy, stylish, music-video type moments. The camera work was beautiful, and once you get to the end of the movie, the style of these sequences makes even more sense. I didn't feel like these scenes took away from the dramatic moments which were the core of the movie.
The director answered questions afterwards, and I was surprised to hear him talking about how low the budget was. He described some of what he would have done with a bigger budget, but I found myself wondering if the small budget helped force them to really focus the story. It's too late this year, but after seeing Deepwater I'm going to make sure I see more films at next year's festival.
