Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
A big house with a pool is the middle-class dream, very few attain it, and the horror film ‘Night Swim’ turns that aspiration into quite the nightmare!
Directed by Bryce McGuire, who co-wrote the film with Rod Blackhurst, ‘Night Swim’ follows Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), a baseball player on hiatus due to his ailing health, as he moves into a new home after his wife, Eve Waller (Kerry Condon), lands a new job at a school. They have two children, teenager Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and the younger Elliot (Gavin Warren), both of whom are excited about their new house, especially because it has a pool. Advised to try water therapy, Ray is especially pleased to find that swimming in his backyard seems to improve his condition. But soon, the rest of the family begins to experience sinister events in the water, fearing that the pool may be haunted.
‘Night Swim’ actually opens with an intriguing cold-open, featuring the family living in the ‘haunted’ pool house before the Waller family moved in, clearly hinting a young girl might’ve died there. It’s something the real estate agent obviously doesn’t tell the Waller family, but who’d believe in a ghostly pool anyway? But the thing is, the first half of the film does have ample creepy moments, making the viewer worry especially when the innocent Waller children go in for a dip, only to experience dangerously supernatural events. It’s a little like ‘Jaws’, but instead of a killer shark, you have an unknown entity trying to kill those that enter the pool’s water.
Wyatt Russell who plays Ray Waller is the weakest link in the cast, he has very little screen presence and recall value, so it makes it hard to care for his character, even though he is supposed to be a charismatic baseball player. Kerry Condon has a better hold on her character as Eve, a hardworking mom who takes her kids seriously. So when Elliot complains he saw somebody asking for help in the pool, Eve believes him, while Ray dismisses it as Elliot’s attempt at creating a new imaginary friend.
Despite some eerie moments, ‘Night Swim’ begins to lose its creepy edge the second it reveals the ‘ghost’ inhabiting the pool, which turns out to be a hideous blob-like monster, that’s almost comical in appearance and not at all scary. The creators should’ve kept the spirit faceless or hazy, which would’ve made it more creepy and intimidating. The second-half then veers into folk-lore-ish territory, which really didn’t seem to be the case from the way the story unfolds until then.
Overall, ‘Night Swim‘ isn’t as terrifying as a horror film should be, relying on familiar tropes and revealing its primary antagonist too soon, which drains the mystique. While viewers do get an intriguing backstory about the pool’s sinister nature, it feels rushed and underdeveloped. If you’re a horror fan who doesn’t mind low-stakes stories and mild scares, it might be an ‘okay’ watch for when you’re running out of titles to stream.
Rating: 5.5 on 10. Watch ‘Night Swim’ on Netflix.
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