Cinema for Brunch NIGHT SWIM Review

Focusing more on atmosphere and mood than its scares, “Night Swim” is a solid, competent enough start to kick off the new year.

Synopsis

Forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, former baseball player Ray Waller moves into a new house with his wife and two children. He hopes that the backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for himself. However, a dark secret from the home’s past soon unleashes a malevolent force that drags the family into the depths of inescapable terror.

Review
The horror film as of late has had its full rotation of repetitive monsters or monster archetypes. There’s the inhuman monster, the possessed object, the “devil made me do it” possessed human and there’s ol’ Satan himself in some instances. When turning an inanimate object into a monster, it can go two ways – ingeniously entertaining or horribly stupid. In this case of a haunted swimming pool in Bryce McGuire’s directorial debut “Night Swim,” it’s the former. Based on McGuire’s 2014 short film of the same name, the film follows Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), a former major league baseball player who is looking for a fresh start to settle down with his family – supportive wife Eve (Kerry Condon), spunky daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and amicable young son Elliot (Gavin Warren). Dealing with a degenerative illness, Ray and Eve decide it’s time to settle roots in a new town and in a new home. Before long, they find themselves at a house with a shimmering backyard swimming pool that could be good for the kids’ morale and Ray’s physical therapy. Little do they know, this pool (introduced by a generic 1992 prelude of a little girl going missing in the “abyss”) has a sinister, haunting past and is not to be played with.

McGuire’s “Night Swim” doesn’t change the status quo of monster films nor act as a sort of fiercely original work but it does serve its purpose as solid “popcorn horror.” The plot follows its generic beats – innocent family finds a new home, family finds strange things happening with new home, strange things happen for a bit (maybe some murders if the plot is gutsy enough), family decides it’s time to go, family realizes they can’t leave so easily, tense thrilling showdown, the end. “Night Swim” knows its lane and doesn’t try to change it but the film’s entertaining value lies in the cast’s chemistry and their characters’ development. Russell (every bit the charming fella his father is) handles the character trajectory of Ray Waller more than well. Waller is the typical everyman protagonist, he’s had success, has a great family but he’s currently down on his luck – an actor with the right amount of charm can turn a molehill role like this into a mountain. Rusell sells the everyman vibe, making nice quirks here and there and bringing a relatable gravitas in the margins; Condon brings the same effort with Eve (I don’t remember a Biblical allegory being made in this film – otherwise, it may have went over my head), she’s easygoing, worrisome (as the wife usually is in these films) and supportive. While her Irish accent slips in some scenes, Condon’s Eve is a solid partner to Russell’s Waller. Young performers Amélie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren also get solid screen time to shine for their roles. The young kids have their own internal drama – Izzy is dealing with a new school, a new location and maybe a new crush; Elliot is concerned about following in his father’s footsteps at baseball and not disappointing him – and have the best moments of tension with the pool. Everyone in this quartet gets a chance to shine and to give their typical horror roles all they can.

While crafting the monster of this film and its mythology, “Night Swim” gives itself some solid credit while still sticking to the status quo. The “monster” itself (let’s call it “haunted pool water”) takes shape with more clarity throughout the course of the film and the tension is elevated well by McGuire’s hand. There’s not an overreliance on jump scares when it comes to the “haunted pool water,” instead McGuire shrewdly focuses on atmosphere, flipping the “Alien” tagline from “space” to “underwater” – if you’re swallowed by the latter, no one can hear you scream. The mythology of the “haunted pool water” – explored in the film’s third act – is fair and adds about as much of a credible explanation that you can for…”haunted pool water.” Even though its ending is generic and predictable as most PG-13 horror films, McGuire sticks the landing solidly enough and leaves this film’s intended audience satisfied at the very least.

Closing Thoughts
“Night Swim” is entertaining horror, a solid January kickoff to what the Blumhouse-Atomic Monster merge could bring us in future months. As an initial outing, “Night Swim” has potential for a franchise – who knows, maybe “haunted pool water” could show in another form in another house for another family. If Blumhouse-Atomic Monster plays their cards right (which they probably won’t), they won’t run a potential franchise like this into the ground like the exhaustive “Conjuring universe” (which they probably will – if this film bleeds green in the box office). Show biz projections aside, “Night Swim” gives its intended audience what they expect – a spooky, solid good time with nice visuals, casual laughs and competent tension. Dip your feet in, see how ya like it.

Trailer

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