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Film: Night Swim
Year: 2024
Director: Bryce McGuire
Writer: Bryce McGuire
Starring: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon and Amélie Hoeferle
Review:
This was a movie that I wanted to see since it was the first 2024 horror release in the theater. What I didn’t realize until others saw it was that this is a Blumhouse film. They can be hit or miss for me. What worked though was seeing that this featured Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon. They’re both actors that I’m a fan of.
Synopsis: a woman swimming in her pool at night is terrorized by an evil spirit.
This starts off in the past. I believe in 1997. There is Rebecca (Ayazhan Dalabayeva) who is in bed. She hears something outside and sees a toy boat moving around their swimming pool. She has a brother, Tommy (Joziah Lagonoy), who is sick. He has a hospital bed at home. I’ll also include that Kay (Jodi Long) is their mother. Rebecca goes down to get the boat out with a net, but ends up falling in. Something pulls her under and she disappears.
We then shift to the present. The Wallers are looking for a new house. There is Ray (Russell) who is a former baseball player. He is dealing with multiple sclerosis so they’re trying to get closer to his doctors and specialists. His wife is Eve (Condon) and she’s finishing up her degree to be a teacher. She got a position in the front office of a nearby school. They have two kids, Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren). She is more athletic and fits in with her peers. Elliot has a harder time. He is trying to play baseball like his dad.
They are shown a house that is too much like a hospital. When they’re leaving it, they see the one that we saw in the beginning. It has fallen into disrepair and the pool is nasty. There is something about that draws Ray to it. He wants to consider it over the other one. This sparks a talk between him and Eve. She is willing to buy it, but she needs to know that he’s giving up his fight to get back to the majors. He agrees that it is what he wants.
Things seems to go well for them in that decision. They clean up and learn that something rare about their pool. There is an underground water source that fills it. Ray uses it for water therapy. The kids love it as does Eve. It also gives them an excuse to invite their new neighbors, friends and teammates for a housewarming party. It also creates problems though. Eve thinks she sees something out of the corner of her eye when doing a night swim. There is an incident at their party and this pool might harbor dark secrets that plunge this family into peril.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the story. Where I want to start is that I did enjoy this set up. We start with a creepy scene where it puts children in peril. Not something I necessarily expect from a Blumhouse, PG-13 rated horror films. We get his theme throughout. I do know that is something that is an apprehension of viewers. What I’ll say is that I thought this did is fine. It is a bit generic with the haunted aspect to a house, but I’ll get into what worked for me with it. I at least like they’re doing something a bit different by having the pool or its water be haunted.
Now that I’ve set that up, I don’t mind the set up that we’re getting here. The house itself isn’t necessarily haunted as I said. It technically isn’t even the pool that is either. There are these natural springs that are giving water to the pool that are haunted. It has healing properties. What I like there is that it entices those that are in need. This water will also grant the user a wish, but it requires a sacrifice. That is something else that I can work with. We get an idea of what Ray’s wish would be. I’ll give a bit of a spoiler, but he’s the one being targeted by this entity. It is also good though since he’s a big guy. He comes off that he could be a baseball player. It is also scary when he becomes possessed due to that size. I’ll credit Russell here that he has a natural charisma that works for the role that he takes on here.
There’s another aspect here where Eve has given up a lot for Ray’s career. We get a sad story that involves the birth of Izzy. It hasn’t been until the children getting older and not needing her as much that Eve was able to focus on herself more. There is also Ray’s diagnosis that is aiding in that as well. I did like this element adding more to the story. She needs assurances from Ray if she is going to agree to certain things. I’ll credit Condon here as well. I thought she was solid. She’s our voice of reason as well as our lead to figure out what is happening here. She can also hold her own on screen with her co-star.
The last bit that I want to explore would be with the children. Izzy has a much easier time transitioning to this new school. Part of it I think could be that she’s done it more than Eliot. She makes friends, joins the swim team and Ronin (Elijah J. Roberts) is also interested in her. Elliot on the other hand struggles. He isn’t as athletic where that comes easier to his sister. I also get the idea that he’s awkward. This entity targets him as the easier prey which does add tension. Again, I’m a fan when you put children in peril as it builds tension easier.
That should be enough for the story so I’ll go over the acting. I’ve already said that Russell and Condon are good. I thought that Hoeferle and Warren were solid as their children. I do like Long as the mother from the family in the beginning. We come back to her later and she plays a creepy role as we learn more about this curse. Eddie Martinez is solid as the baseball coach. He’s in awe that Ray’s son is on his team with him being the celebrity that he is. Other than that, Roberts and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.
I’ll then finish out with filmmaking. I thought that this is shot well. The cinematography and framing doing interesting things. One of which is when someone is in the pool, we are seeing things as if they’re swimming. So, what should be level will be turned on its side and focus shifts. That was something I liked. Going along with this, there are supernatural things that happen that is reminiscent of the bathtub scene in A Nightmare on Elm Street. There is an added fear of characters drowning. I do think that it loses realism with how long they’re under the water, but I can also play through. To then go the effects, I love the look of the entity. My only issue there is that I want to learn more. I don’t think this needs a sequel, but if they did, that is where they should go. More into the lore. This was good to not give us too much information as a lot isn’t necessarily known. There is CGI that wasn’t great. It doesn’t ruin this though either. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed. I did like the sound design where it sounds like other people to get them to the swimming pool. That is creepy.
In conclusion, this movie is fine. We are getting a sub-genre that has almost everything done already. What I like here is using a swimming pool since that raises tension with the potential to drown. I did like the lore that we’re given. This is a natural spring that is haunted by something. We learn only what an earlier character knows about the lore. The acting from the two leads is good. The rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed. I’d say this is well made. Things they do with the cinematography and framing is good. I also like the look of the entity. I just want to know more about it though. I’d recommend this to fans of Blumhouse as I thought this was a decent PG-13 horror film. This is one for fans of ‘children in peril’ movies as well.
My Rating: 7 out of 10