with three pre- to mid - teen children and an aging father - in - law to care for -- cooking and cleaning and laundry , drop - offs at little league practice and pick - ups from ballet practice -- margaret hall 's life is rife with complications .
and with her naval officer husband stationed somewhere in the north atlantic , virtually impossible to reach by telephone , margaret leads the crazed life of a single parent .
but margaret 's hectic world is about to get a lot more complicated .
her teenage son beau , a talented trumpet player with strong prospects of being accepted into wesleyan university 's music program , has fallen in with the wrong crowd .
his mother drives from their idyllic , lakeside community of tahoe city , california to the sprawling urban metropolis of reno , nevada , with its imposing concrete superstructures and seedy neon - lit nightclubs , to confront the 30-something man who has befriended beau .
" stay away from my son " margaret warns darby reese .
her words , however , appear to fall on deaf ears as reese turns up drunk at the family homestead later that evening , urging beau to join him in the boathouse .
there are words and advances and some pushing and shoving and beau runs back into the house , passed his startled mother , as the crack of a wooden railing giving way breaks the cold blue silence and an intoxicated reese tumbles out of sight .
the next day , on her morning walk , margaret discovers reese 's lifeless body lying crumpled on the shoreline , a boat anchor impaled in his chest .
with her maternal instincts working overtime , margaret quickly ferries the body out into the lake , weighs it down , and dumps it overboard .
but margaret 's life is about to get a lot more complicated .
soon after the body is discovered , snagged on a local fisherman 's line , margaret is paid a visit by an attractive - seeming blackmailer in a red nova .
alek spera threatens to hand over compromising videotape of beau to the police unless margaret comes up with $ 50 , 000 by 4 o'clock the next day .
but margaret 's life is about to get a lot more complicated , for alek
turns out to be something she never expected .
based on elisabeth sanxay holding 's novel " the blank wall , " " the deep end " is a well - crafted thriller written and directed by scott mcgehee and david siegel ( " suture " ) .
it makes the most of a talented but not particularly well - known cast -- goran visnjic plays alek with a suave likeability , jonathan tucker shines as the conflicted beau , peter donat is amusing as grandfather hall , and josh lucas has an equally small but effective role as the hapless darby reese .
the film is also lovingly photographed by giles nuttgens and features an evocative score , courtesy peter nashel .
but it owes everything to british actress tilda swinton .
swinton , whose pale - faced ethereal beauty has graced many of derek jarman 's films
( " caravaggio , " " edward ii , " " the last of england " ) , plays margaret hall in " the deep end " and , like charlotte rampling in this year 's " under the sand , " turns in a commanding and accomplished performance .
margaret is a devoted mother who is willing to risk everything to protect the ones she loves , and swinton captures every frustration , every fear , every subtle examination and every fervent realization and every nervous oscillation of her being .
the role calls for an extremely wide range of emotions none the least of which is simply playing a mother beset with a multitude of domestic responsibilities .
many can relate to that , of course ; it 's the murder cover - up and the blackmail and the fear of losing one 's son that swinton so gracefully , so graciously , makes resonate with the truest of colors .
the end is deep all right , and there is n't a single shallow moment in tilda swinton 's canon .
turns in a commanding and accomplished performance is also lovingly photographed makes the most of a talented is a well - crafted thriller the end is deep all right , and there is n't a single shallow moment