Movie Review: Night Swim, starring; Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon

The latest horror feature from Blumhouse to hit theaters is Bryce McGuire’s Night Swim. The
film, based on the horror short written and directed by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst in 2014, taps into a
very real yet irrational fear that many people have, of water – even water in the swimming pools in their
own back yard. McGuire attempts to take that fear and amplify it to creep into the audience’s
subconscious fear of the unknown. The idea is extremely promising, niche, and while it may seem a little
ridiculous (the idea that something sinister is happening in the pool of our family of main characters,) I
had high hopes for the film.

The feature stars Wyat Russell and Kerry Condon as Ray and Eve Walter. The couple, along with
their children Izzy and Elliot, played by Amelie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren, purchase a home in the
suburbs, with a pool that taps into a natural water source. Unknown to the couple, their swimming pool
was also the scene of the disappearance of a young girl in the early 90s. With Ray suffering from a new
medical diagnosis and leaving his MLB dreams in the past, the promise of water therapy seems to
promise some alleviation from his ailments.

One by one, the family starts to experience odd occurrences and a dark presence when swimming in the pool, specifically during their night swims. As these events happen to each family member, they brush it off as hallucinations and their imagination. While Ray seems to be getting better, the dark presence lingering in the pool in the family’s background seems to grow more malevolent. This is where the plot starts to just…give up. The idea is genius, in my opinion, because anyone who has swam in a dark swimming pool at night at either one moment or another has most likely felt a level of discomfort, and that discomfort, while irrational, comes from a fear of dark water, not knowing what lies beneath the surface. The film decides to explore those ideas. Something is under the surface, and above as well. But, what could have been an interesting reflection on irrational fear and scratching at the psyches of movie-goers to create a creepy and disturbing exploration of that fear comes up short. The flick relies of schlocky horror jump scares, with very little creativity from the visual effects department. Aside from the typical “Gotcha!” moments, the film is simply disjointed. The plot is all over the place and doesn’t seem to have a solid connecting point that serves as the film’s focus. Instead, audiences are treated to an hour and a half of a poorly written story that can’t seem to pinpoint what exactly it is attempting to do. The performances were decent, but the writing and delivery of the dialogue seemed force, with the characters lacking l ittle to no chemistry. The film did not deliver,and serves as yet another failed attempt at a contemporary horror flick. What did work in the film was the use of camera angles, as the vantage points were interesting and could have captured a lot more given a proper story. The underwater shots, for the most part, were executed well and even though the swimming pool was average size, it seemed to create a much larger atmosphere once we got a glimpse of what was under the surface.

It seems Blumhouse is cranking out horror flicks every couple of months, and most of the time,
their films do well, at least with audiences. However, Night Swim is something that should have been
released on a streaming platform, and that’s being generous. Perhaps it would have been more suitable as a Shudder original. While the film is only in theaters for the time being, it will inevitably be available
on VOD platforms in the near future. But even so, you’ve been warned – Swim elsewhere.

Night Swim earns a D-.