NIGHT SWIM (NETFLIX) (2024)

SYNOPSIS: Based on the acclaimed 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, the film stars Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Oscar® nominee Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin), teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle, this fall’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) and young son Elliot (Gavin Warren, Fear the Walking Dead). Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for him. But a dark secret in the home’s past will unleash a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

One of the most common Chinese folklore ghost stories is that of the water ghost. Reputedly, the spirit is searching for a “replacement,” lurking in bodies of water to drag unsuspecting swimmers down in order to free itself from the abyss. This is why elders often warn people not to swim alone or enter the water at night.

Coincidental or not, the gist of Night Swim is more or less aligned with this supernatural Chinese folklore, even though director and screenwriter Bryce McGuire hails from Florida, not Singapore or Malaysia.

Retired baseball player Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), his wife Eve (Kerry Condon), and their two children, Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren), move into a house with a large swimming pool. The decision is driven by Ray’s doctor, who advises him to take up swimming, a less strenuous form of exercise as part of his multiple sclerosis therapy.

At first, everything seems fine, and Ray’s illness even appears to be improving. However, the children soon begin experiencing unexplained hauntings in the pool on separate occasions. Eventually, Eve starts investigating on her own and uncovers the unsettling truth behind Ray’s sudden remission. Worse still, Elliot may be the eventual target of whatever is lurking beneath the water’s surface.

The pool is arguably the real star of this Blumhouse horror thriller. This suburban deathtrap, seemingly ordinary at first glance, is beautifully shot and transformed into a terrifying gateway to the unknown. Much like the sewer in IT, the pool functions as a central location of dread—equally compelling and menacing. Beyond that, however, the film offers little explanation of what actually resides within. Deliberately or otherwise, a well-to-do Asian matriarch is introduced to recount her sacrifice of a daughter to cure her sick son, yet the origins of the supernatural threat remain frustratingly vague.

The shock value and jump scares are minimal. While there are a few intense, competently staged moments in the pool, the underwhelming creature design is a major drawback unless a knockoff version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon happens to be your thing. It almost feels like producer James Wan is reminding audiences that he’s still working on a remake of the classic monster movie.

Frankly, there are no real standout moments, despite Condon’s gung-ho performance as a fiercely protective mother. Night Swim takes its time setting up its premise and mystery but never truly delivers genuine scares or sustained tension. While it does have an intriguing hook, the end result is a lukewarm horror experience. Perhaps water ghost stories are best left to Asian storytellers to do them justice.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee