Night Swim | Reelviews Movie Reviews (2025)

Night Swim looks and feels like one of thosethrow-away horror films that Blumhouse churns out with regularity. Last year, M3gantook the January pole position and lapped the pack, stunning with a $30Mopening weekend and final domestic gross of nearly $100M. Night Swim isn’texpected to do as well – the marketing hasn’t been as aggressive and the filmisn’t as expertly made – but it should fare nicely in the wasteland that isearly January.

Night Swim is primarily a ghost story but, althoughdirector Bryce McGuire (who wrote the screenplay based on a 4-minute short filmhe co-made with Rod Blackhurst in 2014) choreographs some creepy water-basedscares (the best of which, as featured in the trailer, involves a game of MarcoPolo), the plot is a mess. The “truth” is unsatisfying and the resolution lacksimpact. The movie is at its best when it’s content with being atmospheric and spooky.As soon is it starts explaining things, the story goes down the drain with thewater being pumped out of the pool.

The movie opens with an effectively unsettling prologue in whicha young girl (Ayazhan Dalabayeva) has an unfortunate counter while swimming ina backyard pool. Jumping ahead to the present day, we meet the Waller family:father Ray (Wyatt Russell), mother Eve (Kerry Condon), daughter Izzy (AmelieHoeferle), and son Elliot (Gavin Warren). Ray, a former Major League Baseballplayer, is afflicted with a progressive neuromuscular disease (possibly ALS),and has been recommended with daily water therapy to help with his condition.So the family buys a house with a backyard pool. And, while his daily swimsseem to cause an almost miraculous improvement to Ray’s health, the other threefamily members have less pleasant experiences with the pool, hearing voices, seeingghostly apparitions and, in one case, discovering an underground world ofghouls and ghosts far beneath the surface. While Eve, Izzy, and Elliot come tobelieve that the pool is haunted, Ray sees only his physical advances.

I haven’t seen Night Swim’s inspiration but it’s easyto envision that, denuded of most of its ridiculous plot, this could be fertileground for horror. McGuire proves himself to be a more capable director thanwriter. By using a variety of lenses and angles, he expands the rather ordinarysetting of an in-ground pool into something vast and potentially dangerous. Thisseemingly harmless recreational location becomes fraught with terrifying possibilities,giving new meaning to the term “deep end.”

The Blumhouse method demands that filmmakers refrain fromhiring “name” actors as a way to lower costs. Although there have beenexceptions (notably Jamie Lee Curtis), most B-grade productions emerging out ofJason Blum’s warehouse have featured anonymous performers of variable quality. NightSwim is no different. While Oscar nominee Kerry Condon is expectedly verygood, crafting a credible character from a thinly-written type, he co-starsaren’t on the same level. Young actors Amelie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren coulduse more seasoning and Wyatt Russell (the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn)spends a little too much time mugging for the camera.

For those whose only requirements for horror movies are thatthey avoid the excesses of blood/gore/violence prevalent in R-rated fare andincorporate a few good jump-scares, Night Swim checks the requisiteboxes. For those looking for a more complete experience, however, the moviestruggles even to achieve the level where it would be considered worthwhile asa streaming option. It has moments but those never add up to a complete film.Oh, and as an aside, how come it’s okay to kill cats in horror movies whileexecuting dogs are verboten?

Night Swim (United States, 2024)