Tara, the protagonist of "Dead in the Water," feels burdened by the past. Tara's bestie, Amy, recognizes how her friend needs to get unstuck from the guilt she feels from her brother John's death a decade ago. She also needs to overcome her parents' resentment of her after John's drowning.

Tara will be put to the ultimate test when Amy invites her to spend a weekend at her parents' beautiful lake house. An aspiring photographer who runs a vlog, Tara feels that she is a failure in life, "slinging French fries" as a waitress and obsessing about her victimhood. Tara brings along her camera and special lenses to try out in the lap of nature, and she inadvertently captures the image of a voyeur on one of her photographs. She also brings along a lot of baggage from the past.

Things take a turn towards a nightmare when a mysterious stranger calling himself Lucas arrives at the lake house. Lucas seems to be interested in both women. But it soon becomes clear that he is obsessed with Tara.

Again, Lucas will figure in the burden of Tara's past when it is revealed that he is "Brian," who was befriended by Tara in the sixth grade, then became obsessed with her for years. It was Brian who killed Tara's brother John, never realizing that the incident would be the source of her torment for the past decade.

The filmmakers switch gears stylistically when Tara's erstwhile boyfriend Derek shows up at the lakeside retreat. The film now moves into the horror genre when the jealous Derek, who had been sleeping with Amy, is brutally murdered by Lucas/Brian. At one point, Derek referred to Lucas/Brian as "a backwards rando." He probably should have said "Rambo."

The best dialogue in the film was the acerbic repartee between Tara and Amy. There was one unforgettable cat fight in which the two women leave nothing on the table about how they feel towards one another.

In order to fully let go of her past, Tara is put through a gruesome trial. Somehow, the bond between Tara and Amy survives. But the final directorial touch on the film of a sinister shadow following Tara implies that she still may not have fully broken the shackles of a deeply troubled life and that she may still be metaphorically dead in the water.

One of those generic stalker turned SAVIOR type films!

"There's someone watching us". I'm watching Dead in the Water right now and I'm about to review it. It's Lifetime so time to break the cork out!

Anyway in 2021's Dead in the Water, the "dead" refers to a nasty brother who drowns after bullying his sister. That scene comes to in a series of flashbacks throughout. One of said flashbacks nearly gave me the creeps. You'll know if you take in a viewing.

So OK, Dead in the Water is a mystery half-thriller that struggles to find its footing. You don't know what it's about or how it's about until an hour in. The good-looking actors do their best with an uneven script as their tones shift on a dime. Oh and Dead in the Water's setting is forestry luridness that never quite gives you its location (it sure looked like Oregon to me).

Directed, written, and produced by one woman (Simi Valley's own Nanea Miyata),Dead in the Water chronicles a photog named Tara (played by Catherine Lidstone). Tara gets dumped by her rocker boyfriend and decides to pertain in a weekend getaway with bestie Amy (Angela Guiner). From there, chaos and conflict ensues when the two cross paths with a scruffy drifter named Lucas (played by Tyler Hoechlin lookalike Peter Porte).

Dead in the Water looks good even if you don't get its initial gist. That's thanks to lush cinematography by Nathan Haugaard that appears like something Sam Mendes would have done circa twenty years ago. Director Miyata is also committed as she gets all Hitchcockian on us. Nanea uses interesting camera angles, slow burn minatory, and stylish whims to get the audience going. Her film eventually takes the easy way out by descending into a plot about a psycho obsessing and stalking a young female. No freshness winding up here just "dead" load.