Deep Water: Not the Score I Expected, But a Wild Theory...

Okay, so, Deep Water. Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas... the internet basically wrote the headlines for that one already, didn't it? The movie itself? Eh, it was... something. But let's talk about the music, because, well, that's why I'm here, right? Marco Beltrami. Usually, I'm all in on his stuff. He's done some killer scores (think 3:10 to Yuma or A Quiet Place). But Deep Water felt... odd. Like, almost deliberately detached. Which got me thinking. My theory is this: Beltrami intentionally avoided creating a score that sympathized with Vic (Affleck). The music rarely hints at anything other than cold, calculating potential. Even in moments where you might expect warmth (like with his daughter), it's... off. I think they wanted the audience to feel perpetually uneasy about him, even when the film hints that he might be innocent (or at least, provoked). Notice how the music swells and becomes more prominent whenever Melinda (de Armas) is around, almost framing her as the manipulative force, even if she's behaving… well, like Melinda. It's like the score is constantly gaslighting you. Consider that snail scene, too. It's so bizarre and unsettling, but the music doesn't play it as some big, dramatic villain reveal. It's weirdly understated, adding to the feeling that something is deeply wrong but not necessarily evil, per sé. It's this unsettling feeling that’s carried throughout, using the music to almost project Melinda's version of events onto Vic. Maybe it’s a bit of a reach. Maybe it's just that Beltrami had a weird day when he wrote it. But the more I think about it, the more I suspect this 'detached' scoring was 100% intentional to make the viewer more uneasy. Thoughts?