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Night Swim Review
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Loading...Directed by: Bryce McGuire
Written by: Bryce McGuire
Starring:
Wyatt Russell – Ray Waller
Kerry Condon – Eve Waller
Amélie Hoeferle – Izzy Waller
Gavin Warren – Elliot Waller
Jodi Long – Kay
Eddie Martinez – Coach
Elijah J. Roberts – Ronin
Running Time: 98 minutes
Rated PG-13 for terror, some violent content and language.
Every January, we have to have a high-profile studio horror film. It’s practically a cinematic law. Sometimes those movies turn out to be delightful surprises, like last year’s silly but fun MEG3N. Sometimes they revive franchises, like 2022’s Scream. But sometimes, like 2020’s The Grudge reboot or 2017’s The Bye Bye Man, they turn out to be reminiscent of the old pattern of January horror – a lackluster (at best) effort dumped in the post-holiday hangover period to try and lure audiences who aren’t in the mood for a much-hyped award contender.
Unfortunately, this year’s film is that latter example. Night Swim is the first film released by Atomic Monster and Blumhouse since the two merged last week, and if the studios thought this would give an indication of what we could expect from them, color me concerned. Developed by Bryce McGuire from the 2014 short film he created with Rod Blackhurst, this story of a haunted swimming pool proves that sometimes it’s just better to let the short stand on its own.
Night Swim stars Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon as Ray and Eve Waller, who are looking for a new home after Ray was forced to retire from the Major Leagues due to a degenerative condition. With their children Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren), they decide to settle in a home that has a long-unused pool in the backyard. Ray hopes that he can use the pool for physical therapy to help combat his condition, while Eve is hoping for some stability for a family that has had to move every time her husband got traded.
At first, things seem to be going well. Sure, Ray cut his hand cleaning the pool and the family cat has gone missing. But swimming in the pool has also done wonders for Ray, with a recovery that astounds doctors. Still, Eve is hesitant, especially when Izzy and Elliot experience frighting episodes while swimming alone. They start to suspect that there’s something wrong with the pool, particularly when Ray starts acting strangely.
If you guessed that they’re right, congratulations; you’ve seen a horror film before. It’s not hard to guess very early where things are going to go with this one. However, the main problem with Night Swim isn’t the fact that it’s predictable. After all, “cursed and/or haunted swimming pool” is what the film is being sold on.
The actual problem here is that there isn’t enough to make a solid horror film out of. McGuire’s original short is a decently effective little bit of horror, but it’s also three minutes long (plus credits) and is only similar to the feature film in the basest concept. Pushing it to a feature length requites a whole new story, and what McGuire comes up with here isn’t nearly enough to justify the running time.
It’s particularly hard to take it all seriously when the supernatural moments around the pool just don’t work as a horror film. McGuire gets a few inventive shots out of the whole thing, but there’s little suspense and a few bad CGI moments undermine the whole thing.
Give the cast credit for trying, but they’re given little to work with. Russell has the most to do with his character but he’s playing the same kind of “Dad starts to fall under supernatural influence” role we’ve seen in a number of other films like the Insidious franchise, where Patrick Wilson had more to sink his teeth into. Condon is relegated to playing the concerned mother and wife, and she does that well but again, there’s not a lot on the page. Hoeferle and Warren are basically there to provide the screams and they do that decently enough.
The most frustrating part of Night Swim is that at its core, there is a decent concept here. Horror has made better films out of sillier concepts. A swimming pool that eats people? I’m down with that, but it has to lean into the silliness. McGuire plays it straight here, dipping into some tropes and tones that come straight out of the American J-horror remake craze of the mid-2000s.
Ultimately, Night Swim feels like a film that would have played better if it had been ambitious and stumbled. Instead, it hedges its bets and relies on a couple of solid moments to carry it through the runtime while being the worst thing a horror film can be: safe and forgettable.
