Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Students lured into dangerous experiment; violence, language
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Deep
What's the Story?
When Thai medical student Jane (Panisara Rikulsurakan) sees her bills mounting up in DEEP, she tells her advisor, Professor Nichca (Dujdao Vadhanapakorn), that she needs to quit school. The advisor suggests instead that Jane consider taking part in "Deep," a high-paying medical experiment run by a German pharmaceutical company. For a tidy sum, Dr. Hans Miller (Kim Waddoup) implants a tube in Jane's neck to collect a substance that will help create a drug to keep people awake. A monitoring wristwatch will tell Jane when she's reached 100 percent and is ready for harvesting. That will take several days and, Dr. Miller adds, if Jane falls asleep for more than 60 seconds, she will die. She soon discovers that other medical students are also participating in Level 1 Deep, a few challenging days of sleeplessness. With bills still to pay, Jane agrees to go to Deep Level 2 for even more money, a longer and more tortured process. This time fellow med students Win (Kay Lertsittichai), Cin (Supanaree Sutavijitvong) and Peach (Krit Jeerapattananuwong) join her in trying to stay awake -- and alive -- for days on end. Someone goes into cardiac arrest but survives. After such agony, they refuse to go to Level 3, but are extorted into it. A sympathetic Professor Nichca agrees to help them survive the ordeal, but things go awry. The true nature of Deep is revealed and the four-way friendship is sealed.
Is It Any Good?
Native Thai speakers may delight in having the chance to see a movie that speaks their language, but many moments of narrative sloppiness work to undermine audience buy-in for Deep. When Dr. Miller injects the microchip into the first patient's neck, he doesn't even bother to swab the skin with alcohol first! Surely if the subject comes down with an infection, the whole project could be scrapped. And he only offers as a throwaway, as Jane leaves his lab, the warning that if she falls asleep for more than 60 seconds in the next couple of days, she will die. We are instantly signaled by the filmmakers that even they don't believe in the truth of their story. And the fact that Jane isn't so alarmed by this news that she quits immediately renders her completely unbelievable as a character. At that point there's nothing left for the audience to do but watch how this incompetent story unfolds or look for another Netflix selection.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the need for money can lead people to make questionable decisions. Why do you think even someone as desperate as Jane is would do something dangerous for money?
The story suggests that students are risking their lives for money until it's revealed that one character turns out to be wealthy. What do you think motivates that character to participate in the life-threatening experiment?
How does the movie adhere to conventions of horror, sci-fi, and teen dystopia genres? How does it differ?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 16, 2021
- Cast : Krit Jeerapattananuwong , Warisara Jitpreedasakul , Kay Lertsittichai , Panisara Rikulsurakan , Supanaree Sutavijitvong , Dujdao Vadhanapakorn
- Directors : Sita Likitvanichkul , Jetarin Ratanaserikiat , Apirak Samudkidpisan
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Science Fiction
- Run time : 101 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : July 18, 2022
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