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Vic Van Allen is the protagonist villain of the Patricia Highsmith novel Deep Water and its 2022 film adaptation of the same name. Vic is a suburban husband and father who begins killing his unfaithful wife's many lovers.

In the film, he was portrayed by Ben Affleck, who also played Fred O'Bannion in Dazed and Confused, Bartleby in Dogma, Shannon Hamilton in Mallrats, Ivan Block in Runner Runner, Doug MacRay in The Town, and Pierre d'Alençon in The Last Duel.

Biography[]

Vic's wife Melinda has sex with numerous men due to their loveless marriage, Vic making her promise not to leave them and their daughter Trixie. When one of Melinda's lovers is killed, Vic uses the crime to try and scare the other men off by lying he was guilty. When the killer's arrested, the community is shaken by Vic's threats, but they only see it as gallows humor. Vic soon escalates and turns his rage into killing more of Melinda's lovers, but people still don't suspect him.

However, a neighbor hires a PI to follow Vic, which turns up with scarce evidence, and Melinda feels enough pressure to finally divorce Vic. Vic, however, kills and disappears a lover Melinda and Trixie were going to leave the country with. In the book, Melinda tries to get the neighbor to call the police after finding evidence, and Vic kills her before he's arrested. In the film, after the neighbor dies in a car crash when Vic tries to stop him from going to the cops, and Trixie refuses to leave, Melinda reluctantly acquiesces to Vic's demands the family stay together.