In Love and Deep Water tells the love story of a butler and a passenger who investigate a murder aboard a luxury liner. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Ubukata is a butler who works on a luxury liner, Bellissima. He takes his job very seriously. He tries his best to serve his guests and satisfy their needs, even if serving them means bowing down to them and disregarding his self-respect.
Among the passengers on the liner are the Kurumas, a wealthy and powerful family of doctors. The family patriarch, Sohei Kuruma, is a reputed doctor and influential man. His son, Michihiko, is the director of the Kuruma General Hospital.
Accompanying them are Michihiko’s wife, Misaki, and daughter, Rena, as well as their housemaid and her son, Kanato, who is expected to serve and keep Rena company. Kanato is a wise boy who knows that everyone around him is selfish.
Kanato’s mother, Miss Sakumoto, takes care of Sohei, who cannot walk. As she looks like Sohei’s first love, he decides to give his fortune to her instead of his son. When Sohei will die, Sakumoto will inherit his fortune.
Ubukata’s girlfriend, Wakaba, was supposed to join him on the ship, but she cancels her plan, much to Ubukata’s disappointment. Ubukata then meets a woman named Chizuru, who comes to the ship to meet Wakaba.
Chizuru has evidence that her boyfriend is going to cheat on her with Wakaba, and she shows their text messages to Ubukata. Chizuru intends to stop her boyfriend before it is too late. Unfortunately, the ship sets sail and leaves Japan before Chizuru can disembark.
Meanwhile, Sohei tells Misaki that he knows that Rena is not his son’s daughter and asks Misaki to leave their family with Rena. He also tells her that years ago, he killed a patient to steal her organ and give it to a patient sent to him by a cabinet minister.
Sohei regrets killing that woman and betraying her family’s trust. To assuage his guilt, he wants to give his fortune to Sakumoto, as he believes that he will be able to go to Heaven by doing that.
Misaki then pushes Sohei into the pool and drowns him. The murder is witnessed by Ubukata, Chizuru, Kanato, and two other couples. However, when Ubukata informs the ship’s captain about it and brings her to the scene of the crime, the body is nowhere to be found. On top of that, all the other witnesses deny seeing anything.
After leaving her father-in-law in the pool, Misaki went to Michihiko and told him everything that happened. When Ubukata had gone to get the captain, Michihiko took his father’s body to his room and made it look like he was having drinks with his father, proving to the staff that Sohei is alive.
For reporting a murder that did not happen, Ubukata is suspended. Chizuru tells him that she lied to the captain because Kanato was in shock, and she did not want to make it worse by confirming that the murder truly happened.
If it is confirmed that a man was murdered on board, the liner will have to return to Japan. Chizuru wants nothing more than to return to Japan and stop her boyfriend from cheating on her, so she is going to help Ubukata persuade the two couples to testify.
Ubukata starts enjoying himself when he is with Chizuru. He dresses up as a passenger and keeps an eye on one of the two couples, Ryuki and Shiori, who witnessed the murder. Ubukata and Chizuru find out that the couple lied to the captain because they cannot go to Japan.
Shiori is the daughter of a crime boss, and Ryuki used to be in her father’s gang. Shiori’s father was against their marriage, so they stole his money and ran away. If they go back to Japan, the two of them will be killed by Shiori’s father.
The second couple, Aina Horikawa and Shintaro, does not want the murder to come to light, as it will bring attention to their affair. Aina is a well-known producer, and she is having an affair with Shintaro, an actor who wants to make better movies.
Ubukata and Chizuru then find out that their own partners are thinking of cheating on them because they find them boring. This hurts Chizuru more than Ubukata, so Ubukata offers to show her around. They spend the whole day enjoying the luxuries that the liner has to offer and develop feelings for each other.
Meanwhile, Sakumoto discovers that Michihiko and Misaki are hiding Sohei’s death, so Michihiko pushes her down the stairs. As Sakumoto is gravely injured, she is taken to the hospital, but Michihiko and Misaki make Kanato stay on the ship to keep their daughter company.
Ubukata and Chizuru then sneak into Michihiko’s room to find evidence against him. They find Sohei’s body hidden in his room, but before Ubukata can inform the captain about it, Michihiko tells her that his father died of a heart attack. Ubukata cannot prove that Michihiko is lying.
The ship will be making a brief stop in Hong Kong to send Sohei’s body to Japan. At this time, Chizuru’s boyfriend contacts her. He tells her that he was going to make a mistake, but he stopped when he realized that she is the most important person in his life.
Similarly, Ubukata’s girlfriend contacts him. While Chizuru forgives her boyfriend and decides to get off the ship in Hong Kong to return home to her boyfriend, Ubukata has no intention of forgiving his girlfriend.
Ubukata tries to make Chizuru stay for the case and for him, but to no avail. Ubukata then makes an announcement for all the passengers who are disembarking. He gets carried away and ends up indirectly confessing his feelings for Chizuru.
After hearing the announcement, Chizuru changes her mind about forgiving her boyfriend. She decides to stay and be with Ubukata, the man who likes and values her.
In Love and Deep Water ending explained in detail:
Why do Shintaro and Shiori decide to testify?
Earlier, Shintaro, Aina, Ryuki, and Shiori refused to testify that they had witnessed Sohei’s murder. However, that changes when Shintaro and Shiori wish to leave their partners.
Shintaro wants to return to Japan to audition for the kind of film that he always wanted to do, and Shiori finds out that Ryuki is cheating on her. The only way they can go back home is if the truth about the murder comes out.
Shintaro was making a video when Sohei was pushed into the pool. In the video, Sohei’s murder was captured. Shintaro and Shiori now want to show this video to the captain. When Aina and Ryuki try to stop them, they end up giving the video to Ubukata and Chizuru.
Who provides incriminating evidence against Misaki?
Now that they have proof, Ubukata and Chizuru go to confront Michihiko and Misaki, who mistreat Kanato after finding out that Kanato’s mother survived the accident. Michihiko and Misaki are getting Sohei’s will changed, and they cannot afford to be accused of murder.
Ubukata, who has never opposed a guest, stands up to Michihiko when he sees him mistreating Kanato. Kanato likes Rena and believes that Rena is lonely. That is why he wants to be there for her, but Michihiko and Misaki mistreat him for his kindness.
Ubukata then reports the murder to the captain. This time, he has witnesses and evidence. Michihiko denies all involvement in the murder and claims that it was his wife’s work. When Misaki refuses to confess, Michihiko shows the captain and the witnesses another piece of evidence that proves his wife’s guilt.
It turns out that Michihiko knew that Rena is not his daughter and that Misaki killed Sohei because Sohei found out the truth. Michihiko was there when Misaki killed his father. He did not save his father, but he recorded the whole thing.
Who is the real killer?
Chizuru notices a discrepancy between the videos recorded by Michihiko and Shintaro. She realizes that Sohei was pushed into the pool twice. Misaki did not push him the second time, as she went to her room after pushing him once.
Michihiko also remembers seeing a mark on his father’s hand and comes to the conclusion that his father did not die by drowning; he was electrocuted. A passenger named Edward, who is a magician and carries an electric wand, arrives at the scene.
He confesses that he electrocuted and killed Sohei after rescuing him from drowning. It is revealed that Edward is the man whose wife’s organ was stolen by Sohei. Edward killed Sohei to get revenge for his wife’s murder. Edward is arrested, but he tells the captain that he can escape anytime.
The ship is returning to Japan because of Sohei’s murder. Aina and Shintaro have broken up. Shiori and Ryuki are also not together anymore. Aina is then seen asking Ryuki to star in her films, whereas Shiori wants to introduce Shintaro to her father.
When the film ends, Kanato and Rena are seen enjoying each other’s company and smiling. Ubukata and Chizuru also get their happy ending and start dating.
Also Read: Best. Christmas. Ever! summary and ending explained