The Depths is a thriller about a couple of wannabe screenwriters who decide to fully explore the depths of murder and crime within their story only to discover their obsession with their work has made it all too real.
Ever notice how a movie about a struggling writer almost always ends up spinning into the dark? If you know anything about putting words to paper, you most likely understand. The creative process can be pretty challenging and as such, those who make a living at it get a pass in occasionally venting their frustrations into a screenplay. That’s probably the case for writer / director Jamison M. LoCascio, who no doubt has probably had his fair share of ups and down in getting his stories to screen. As such, he surely felt compelled by many parts of his thriller, The Depths, an independent film that is plenty entertaining for what it offers, even as it can’t quite build to its end as well as it might.
Ray Ferguson (Michael Rispoli), a modestly successful butcher and Mickey Hanson (Patch Darragh), a slacker barely getting by as a clerk at a hardware store think they’ve got a big idea for a screenplay. Ray is the writer and Mickey sort of does the contemplating. Either way, their hopes are dashed when the two finally get a meeting with a producer who isn’t that impressed, advising them to write what they know. Undaunted, they get back to work, and for the next two years, toil at their story. However, after Ray manages to get a ride-along with a detective, who reluctantly gets them close to a murder crime scene, Mickey starts to rethink the whole project and this creates a widening gap that soon separates the once partners. This leads to a competition, and while Ray wants to tweak what he’s got, Mickey falls down the rabbit hole, descending into drugs and madness in a quest to know murder.
You might be thinking you know where this is going, but in fact, one of the best things about LoCascio’s story is that it doesn’t entirely do what is expected. This is in many ways a trim psychological thriller that follows Mickey into a nightmare of paranoia and fear, he becoming fascinated by crime and death, taking the producer’s words to heart that he must know murder to write about it. And this all seems like the man is destined to walk a very specific line, but that’s not quite what we get, and for the most part, it’s nice for a change to be led elsewhere. He finds an ally in a prostitute named Chloe (Charlotte Kirk), who was once Ray’s favorite fling, and this causes even more rifts in the men’s relationship, with Chole taken by Mickey’s determination and obvious affection for her. Little does she know though that things are not what they seem.
So yes, there’s a lot about The Depths that works, with a good story and three on-target performances from the leads. However, LoCascio isn’t working with much of a budget and is greatly limited by the production, which compresses these characters into a few small sets and for a film that is just shy of 90 minutes long, feels padded to be so. Still, LoCascio and co-writer Robert Spat manage to generate a few solid moments that help secure this as a worthy watch, with a genuinely clever and satisfying end that at least feels a little brave in the scheme of things where all too many studios simply play it safe.