Night Swim was initially made as a short film by the director Bryce McGuire. With a run time of four minutes, it was a brisk but concise short that hit home. Night Swim expounded to ninety-eight minutes with the theatrical release and then seemed to fall apart somewhere in transition.
Night Swim follows the family of an ex-professional baseball player who had to quit due to multiple sclerosis. As they look to rehome closer to a hospital so the husband can go for treatments and so they can start planting their roots as a family.
After looking at an incredible apartment, the couple decides to move into a house with a pool that the husband feels in during their viewing. They soon come to learn that there is something going on with the pool. The husband, played by Wyatt Russell, becomes obsessed as it heals a cut on his hand and starts to heal his MS. While the favoured daughter (Amélie Hoeferle), disregarded son (Gavin Warren), and loving mother (Kerry Condon) all have run-ins with the polls many ghosts.
“Storywise, Night Swim never does anything genuinely astonishing or even different, sticking to the usual beats of a horror movie.”
While I won’t directly spoil anything, as there are some interesting twists and turns, the biggest issue with Night Swim is just how formulaic it is as a horror film. Within the first twenty minutes, you can already tell the exact steps this movie will take. If you have seen a horror movie before, chances are you can pretty much guess where the film is headed. There is a long line of pool owners, each having some massive illness or wish they’d made to the water paying the ultimate price.
Storywise, it is incredibly predictable. Beat by beat, it never does anything genuinely astonishing or even different. It seemed to have noted and stuck to the usual beats for a horror movie. While I may enjoy some formula in horror, a little deviation would have been nice to mix things up. It doesn’t help that I couldn’t find myself backing anyone in Night Swim. The family in the movie just never felt like a relatable family. Sure, they tried to lay the groundwork for a favourite child and the older sibling doing older sibling things, but it just felt stiff. Also, when we get to the supporting characters, they seem to be one note, which is a huge loss when it comes to a father-son combo obsessed with the man and his career.
When it comes to acting in Night Swim, it is a little rough. It’s not that anyone is particularly outstanding or notable. The one thing of note is that Wyatt Russlle plays Ray (the husband) in a weirdly disconnected father role while also attempting to be a sort of comic relief. It was a weird direction to take with the character. Sometimes, the comedy was really well done, and other times, it was just dry. One thing is for sure, though: Night Swim encompasses the theme of horrible, one-sided family mechanics, where there is always one horrible parent. While it does happen, Night Swim makes it look like every family is set up in the same way. It’s laughable and a weird way to write an entire suburb of families.
When it comes to the acting in Night Swim, it is a little rough and not in a particularly outstanding or noteworthy way. The only notable thing is that Wyatt Russlle plays Ray (the husband) in a weirdly detached father role while also trying to be some sort of comic relief. It was a strange direction to take with the character. Sometimes, the comedy was really well done, and other times, it was just dry. But one thing is for sure: Night Swim embraces the theme of horrible, lopsided family dynamics where there is always one horrible parent. While that does happen, Night Swim makes it seem like every family is set up the same way, which is ridiculous and a weird way to write an entire suburb of families.
“The scares in Night Swim start strong but lose their horror magic when the ghosts are fully revealed, reminiscent of outdated special effects.”
The worst offender by a long shot in Night Swim is the scares. It does an excellent job of building up tension and making the viewer feel afraid of the pool. We catch various early glimpses of the ghastly ghouls. It’s when it drops all pretense of hiding or gives us only a taste of what is truly there that it loses that horror magic. The creatures/ghosts just don’t look great, with one early on reminding me of John Leguizamo as the clown from the 1997 movie Spawn. We then later get a full look at some other female with big nails, and they just don’t hit the same as the quick flashes here or there while someone is coming out of the water or looking up from the deep end.
Night Swim was not a great start to horror in 2024, but it was a fun time. Honestly, Night Swim could have been a stronger film if the ending didn’t fall apart so quickly. Between that and a failed emotional journey, it doesn’t hold water to most other horror films in the same haunted land genre. But you might be better served watching The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float instead of Are You Afraid of the Dark from 1995.
