January at the multiplex is a known dumping ground for films that studios have little faith in. January is also a month known for inexpensive horror movies that can swoop into the theater for a couple weeks to turn a quick profit. The past few years Blumhouse has pumped out these assembly-line PG-13 “horror” films on a frequent basis and the newest is Night Swim from director Bryce McGuire. A routine story about a small family relocating to a new home only to be tormented by spirits inside the home. Or in this case, coming from the backyard swimming pool. Yes…a haunted swimming pool. Again, it’s January at the multiplex.
Now it’s easy to go into a movie like Night Swim ready to hate it and pick apart its flaws. But after all the self-serious awards films that closed out 2023, a film like this could be a fun (albeit mindless) romp filled with sprinkles of tension and a few thrills. Which to give Night Swim credit, is actually how the film opens as a little girl is attempting to retrieve a little boat from the ominous pool at night. McGuire’s direction here shows signs of sadistic playfulness, and early on, this movie feels like it’s going to be enjoying itself much in the fashion of last year’s Cocaine Bear.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case as the story intro proceeds into a by-the-numbers progression of clichés as this haunted pool and the spirits tied to it begin to inflict torment on the family. In the same string of ways, we’ve watched countless times. Night Swim isn’t all bad, however. As I mentioned, the opening gets the vibe going surprisingly well. There are also a handful of light laughs, some intentional, some not, that do break the frequent lulls. Kerry Condon is also a bright spot with an emotionally charged performance that shows easily the most authenticity. Jodi Long is also able to drop in with a truly creepy performance in a much smaller role that ends up leaving a strong (yet brief) impact.
McGuire’s direction in places is able to create a handful of enjoyably unnerving scenes with his use of angles and placing the camera under the water and above the surface with a smooth flow. These brief moments are when the gimmick of a spirit-invested pool, regardless of its absurdity, is working effectively. A couple scenes, one in particular during a backyard BBQ are also able to get the suspense level up nicely. So, Night Swim in its light defense, does have brief spots of appeal.
The problem is that despite this movie spending so much time working through unnecessary family layers it forgets to properly set the foundation for WHY this pool is so tied to these dark entities. A couple splashes of exposition are plunked in and expected to be enough. But for something as ridiculous as an evil swimming pool, naturally a little more substance is needed to prevent it from feeling like a cheap horror movie gimmick. Which turns out to be the case with this film. Wyatt Russell was also not a good pairing with Condon as she greatly out acts him. To his credit he isn’t given the best material to work with for the needs of his character arc, yet he also lacks the screen presence to compensate for said issues like Condon is able to.
In the end, Night Swim is a collection of small set-ups for potential scares that are all loosely connected by a story that makes little to no sense. Resulting in a film that feels twice as long as it actually is. Its PG-13 rating is also a huge limitation that greatly hinders what could have been a surprisingly fun and delightfully sinister ride of B-horror. When done properly films like this can go on to grow cult followings as the years pass. Night Swim with its sanitized rating, and its wash-and-repeat plot and characters, is sadly done wrong and will ultimately be forgettable much sooner than later.
Grade: 2.5/10
CAST: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Gavin Warren, Ben Sinclair, Ellie Araiza, Jodi Long, Nancy Lenehan, Amelie Hoéferle DIRECTOR: Bryce McGuire WRITER(S): Bryce McGuire, Rod Blackhurst DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes RATING: PG-13 (For terror, some violent content and language) YEAR: 2024 LANGUAGE: English GENRE: Horror/Thriller
Anthony J. Digioia II © 2024 SilverScreen Analysis
