'Night Swim' Movie Review: Beware of The Pool Ghosts
- Details
- Published: Monday, 08 January 2024 21:33
- Written by Lupe R Haas
NIGHT SWIM, starring Wyatt Russell (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) and Kerry Condon (Better Call Saul, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, works better as a thriller than a horror film. The characters are riveting and interesting but the payoff is lacking as the story beats fall into the usual horror tropes.
The Waller family moves into a new home but it’s not their new house that’s haunted, it’s the pool. Ray, the patriarch of the family, is a former professional baseball player who is now retired after the onset of MS. Ray’s wife Eve is now the breadwinner and struggles to keep the family financially stable.
Director/writer Bryce McGuire adapted the story from his own short film. James Wan serves as a producer for Jason Blum’s Blumhouse.
NIGHT SWIM features a few scares along the way, and like JAWS, it may deter viewers from dipping into a pool anytime soon.
NIGHT SWIM’s setup is promising but it soon falls into typical horror beats. Someone is possessed and the family is in peril.
While the family is experiencing hauntings in the pool, Ray is somehow healed the more he swims in the water. Conveniently, a pool man is called to repair the pool, and the characters learn the pool is connected to a water spring with healing powers. While an interesting dynamic, there was no payoff to this setup.
What it does have going for it is the riveting characters played by Russell and Condon. Their situation is very real, and you care for the family of four going through a very human dilemma. Unfortunately, that interesting dynamic falls by the wayside for a paint-by-numbers third act.
Save yourself a trip to the movie theater, and wait for NIGHT SWIM to hit the streaming platforms.