In Love and Deep Water (クレイジークルーズ) is a Japanese romantic crime mystery released on Netflix on November 16, 2023. It is directed by Yusuke Taki and the screenplay is written by Yuji Sakamoto. Produced by Yoichi Arishige and Tomoo Fukatsu, the film has a runtime of about 2 hours and 7 minutes.
The ensemble cast of the film includes Ryo Yoshizawa as Suguru Ubukata, Aoi Miyazaki as Chizuru Banjaku, Yoh Yoshida, Rinko Kikuchi, Kento Nagayama, Yuki Izumisawa, Aju Makita, Amane Okayama, Airi Matsui, Yoshimasa Kondo, Tomu Miyazaki, Takashi Okabe, Yunho, Nahana, Rumika Ogai, Mashima Hidekazu, Miyu Hayashida, Ken Mitsuishi, Hatsunori Hasegawa, Saki Takaoka, and Ken Yasuda.
In the film, when a murder mystery unfolds during a remarkable voyage from Yokohama to the Aegean Sea, the story focuses on two unlikely souls who become involved. This sets the stage for an unforgettable journey filled with romance and intrigue.
In Love and Deep Water Review
The film starts with the loyal butler of the Bellissima cruise telling the story behind sirens at the sea and how it symbolises that love brings one closer to death. Soon after we get to know about the people working at the European cruise ship that is the largest to ever sail Japan. The captain is nothing more than a show-off who’s busy filming her day-to-day life. Whereas the staff are treated quite poorly by the wealthy guests and they also comply with any ridiculous request, to keep them happy. As we see Ubukata kneeling down so that a guest can step down on him to catch signals.
Even a little kid, who also serves a rich family along with his mother, pities him and his selfless demeanour. However, Ubukata doesn’t mind any of that since it’s his work. He is only looking forward to meeting with his meteorologist girlfriend, who will be boarding the cruise at the next stop. But his heart is shattered when she texts him that she won’t be able to come due to work. Instead of her, a strange woman named Chizuru boards the ship looking for his girlfriend. She had no plans of sailing with the cruise but was too late to get out of there.
While being stuck on the ship for the next 42 days, she reveals to Ubukata that his girlfriend is actually cheating on him with Chizuru’s boyfriend. Sailing on the same heartbroken boat, literally, they are able to share their pain and comfort when needed. Suddenly, things take a thrilling turn when they witness the murder of an old man. Ubukata goes along the protocols to unravel what went down and informs the captain. However, the other witnesses lie about seeing any murder and even no dead body could be found at the place of the crime.
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This gives Chizuru the idea to solve the mystery so that the ship could turn back to Japan and she could catch her boyfriend red-handed. While Ubukata just wants to do what is right, he teams up with her and learns more about the guests onboard, along with his own feelings. We also get to see the different lives of people on the cruise and the issues they are running from.
Instead of finding who’s the murderer, the film is more about proving that a murder even happened. And how the duo work together to prove the right killer. At times, it feels like a sweet romantic comedy and other times it’s like a soapy revenge drama with exaggerated/animated characters. If anything, it keeps you engaged till the end because even if you know the killer, there’s more to the story than you would expect.
It is a kind of story that could have easily been made into a series, exploring different guests and their personal stories. Overall, it shows how two betrayed lovers learn about themselves better and find an unexpected connection swimming their way. If you like the tragicomedy genre then you would surely find In Love and Deep Water intriguing as well.
In Love and Deep Water is available for streaming on Netflix.
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