[8]

A fifteen-year-old boy (John Moulder-Brown) begins working at a British bathhouse where a young woman (Jane Asher) goads his sexual awakening. The boy begins obsessing over the woman and her fiancee. He stalks them at night and tries to break them up. Once the boy and woman consumate their unhealthy relationship, things take an even darker turn.

I found Deep End to be acompelling coming-of-age story about the dark side of male sexuality. Moulder-Brown’s character is so baby-faced, innocent and naive, and yet capable of such terrible things. Asher’s character is likeable, yet manipulative. Both of them are complex characters, neither angel nor demon until the film’s final moments. Director Jerzy Skolimowski gives the actors a wide berth and makes us feel like voyers into the movie’s proceedings. He also sprinkles the film with a few moments of poetic grandeur — always involving sex and/or death — that I found quite beautiful.