Name: In Love and Deep Water
Director: Yusuke Taki
Released: 2023-11-16T21:34:11

In Love and Deep Water follows a butler and a passenger’s adventures aboard a luxury liner. While trying to solve a murder case, they fall in love. The film is now streaming on Netflix.

Story

Ubukata Suguru is a butler on a luxury liner, Bellissima. As a dedicated butler, he even casts aside his self-respect to satisfy the guests. Ubukata has a girlfriend, and he is excited to have her join him on the cruise.

Ubukata’s girlfriend does not come, but a woman named Chizuru shows up to meet his girlfriend. Chizuru tells Ubukata that his girlfriend is not joining him because she is going on a trip with Chizuru’s boyfriend.

Chizuru knows that their partners are going to cheat on them. She wishes to stop her boyfriend from doing that, but she fails to disembark before the ship sets sail and leaves Japan. Chizuru then finds herself stuck on the ship.

When the patriarch of a powerful and wealthy family gets murdered on board, Ubukata, Chizuru, and five other people witness the murder. However, there is no trace of a murder by the time the captain gets there.

Chizuru then works with Ubukata to get to the bottom of the mystery. While working together, Chizuru and Ubukata develop feelings for each other. Are these few happy days with Ubukata enough to make Chizuru move on from her boyfriend?

Performances

Ryo Yoshizawa plays Ubukata with as much dedication as his character is supposed to have to his job. Yoshizawa portrays his character as a sweet and dependable man. When the script requires him to depict the other sides of Ubukata, Yoshizawa manages to do it easily without completely transforming his character.

Aoi Miyazaki’s Chizuru is the perfect partner for Ubukata. As Chizuru, Miyazaki is bold and playful but also grounded. She encourages Ubukata to enjoy himself without changing him as a person.

Apart from the two lead actors, Rinko Kikuchi, Yuki Izumisawa, Yoh Yoshida, and Ken Yasuda also make an impression. Their comic characters are entertaining only because of their performances.

Positives

In Love and Deep Water is a romcom with an unlikely hero. As Ubukata himself points out, he is more of a supporting character. It is refreshing to see a character like Ubukata, a simple and ordinary man who can get lost in a crowd, play the hero in a romcom.

Exaggerated characters are not unwanted in a murder mystery like this one. Characters like Aina Horikawa and Shintaro are unrealistic but amusing, and they make this film entertaining, even though they do not get much screen time.

Chizuru and Ubukata’s love story develops in the span of a few days. The film manages to make it as sweet and meaningful as it can get. The chemistry between the two actors certainly helps.

The murder takes place on a luxury liner, and the direction and cinematography do not fail to capture its beauty. The sets are visually appealing, and it is easy to see the ship as a romantic location rather than a crime scene.

Negatives

The murder mystery in the film is disappointing. Although there is a plot twist in the end, it still cannot be described as a mystery. The film’s focus is not on finding the murderer but on proving that a murder has happened.

The film drags out the mystery as well as the love story quite a lot. As a result, at times, the audience will lose interest in both. A shorter run time and a tightly packed plot would have benefited the film.

Verdict

Although In Love and Deep Water lacks an intriguing mystery, it is still somewhat entertaining. It is mainly a romcom in which the murder mystery only exists in the background and is used to further the love story.