Movie Review: Night Swim

January 22, 2024

Content warning/Editor’s note: this review will feature spoilers for “Night Swim” (2024)

“Night Swim” follows the story of a suburban family, the Wallers, and their experience moving into a new house. Their family consists of Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), a former major league baseball player who suffers from a muscle illness, Eve Waller (Kelly Condor), Ray’s wife and their two children Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Eliott (Gavin Warren). The house they move into is seemingly normal, but it is later revealed that the pool in the backyard is self-sustained by a spring water well beneath it.

After a doctor’s appointment concerning the condition of Ray’s illness, it’s suggested that swimming is an effective therapy treatment for muscle relief. With that information on hand, the Wallers embrace their new pool, unaware of the danger it holds.

“Night Swim” being a horror movie based on possession was disappointing. Possession, whether it’s from an otherworldly being, an ancient ritual or from an untimely death, has been so overused to the point where it’s unbearable to watch. Using a pool as the center of the haunting was a smart concept. Taking something that the majority of people have either seen or experienced, and turning it into a vessel of fear had quite a bit of potential, but throwing in possession ruined the buildup of the film.

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When it comes to horror movies, those with an interesting backstory, and a well-developed plot most-likely contain thought out character profiling and character development throughout the length of the movie. It’s difficult to be invested in a movie if the audience doesn’t understand any of the characters. The story did not have enough character development to make the movie worth watching. Ray Waller was the only character that had even the slightest bit of substance to him.

The plot for “Night Swim” is based off of a short film with the same name by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst. After watching the short film, the full length movie took the short film’s script and threw in unnecessary and random details that aren’t coherent with the rest of the movie. “Night Swim” is a movie that weighs more on jumpscares than the actual plot, but for a quick scare, “Night Swim” does the job.