Night Swim

This isn't a great horror film, but it outranks the majority of PG-13 horror films released over the past few years.

A family buys a home with a huge unused pool. HUGE. It looks like it belongs at a resort, not in a backyard. But I overlooked that and watched as strange things begin to happen in it. Curiously, the family continues to swim despite this fact. I would have drained that thing within the first half hour.

Reminder to anyone playing Marco Polo. You can open your eyes if the person you are playing with seems to have disappeared.

The acting is solid, especially by the members of the family. The dad was played by Wyatt Russell who my friend told me is the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Oscar nominee Kerry Condon plays the mom.

The film creates some tension throughout and the eventual explanation for what's happening felt fresh compared to the mostly recycled garbage the horror studios feed us. I refuse to see one more Exorcism film or Conjuring spin off.

The under water cinematography was surprisingly good with the exception of one scene at the end that looked quite fake and had me rolling my eyes.

The ending was satisfying without the added annoyance of trying hard to set up a sequel.

Worth a look if you're in the mood for a mindless horror flick. Just leave your high expectations at the door before you dive in.

The reviews make this movie look like a disappointment, however, it's par for the course for a horror movie. The acting is pretty good, the plot is very intriguing, and the only failure is the effects. The monster is not consistent, it looks different literally every time we see it, and the effects are Ghostbusters level, or maybe worse actually. Like, clearly animated. But otherwise it's a pretty good movie and actually gave me the heebie jeebies once or twice. The script is intriguing enough with one scene that is a little cringey (feat. Old woman) but what else can we expect from a horror movie? Worth the watch.

Plot

A family moves into a new home, unaware that a dark secret from the house's past will unleash a malevolent force in the backyard pool.

Cast

Wyatt Russell (Who does not have his fathers talent) and a bunch of folk I'm unfamiliar and unimpressed with. And a director I know only from a surprisingly enjoyable short film (Pig).

Verdict

This is a prime example of Hollywood losing their way when it comes to horror, it's so incredibly formulaic down to the letter of predictability.

Yes there is only so much you can do with a movie about a haunted pool, but still being an interesting premise I assumed they had a decent idea behind it and a screenplay that would pan out into something enjoyable.

In reality the concept is passable but that's pretty much all they had, no real content and a very meh ending. And the journey? Every trope, every cliche, everything you expect from a big budget horror feature and I'm so very very tired of them.

If you like The Conjuring, Annabelle, Insidious, Talk to Me and other trite horror films this is for you. If you like substance, skip it.

Rants

I want a pool, you see the the US it appears it's a very middle class thing whereas in the UK it's pretty much the top 1% and therefore extremely rare. Any day now I'll win the lottery and get myself an olympic sized one, outdoors but with the facility for it to be covered at anytime! Right next to my mansion, and multiple acres of land, my zoo and my unicorn paddock.

Breakdown

Interesting concept Weak leading man Couldn't be executed any more generically.

I wanted to be more scared than I was when I watched the film. The pool or better yet a body of water is an excellent setting for a horror film. I guess the idea of it is greater than the execution of an actual film that takes place in a pool. I immediately think of The Creature from the Black Lagoon or Jaws or The Abyss when there's anything to do with water and horror. I thought maybe this would add onto that pantheon of films as an addition. I was definitely scared at moments but it felt like the filmmakers dropped the ball and couldn't keep the tension going as the film went on. A great cast and they did their part. I just think the overall film didn't hit as it could have.

The film is terribly clichéd. Take any other horror film and compare it with this one and you won't see any difference. Quite a good story with water, but when you see the monster you start laughing.

The heroes are like some kind of Aquamen, they spend SOOO long under water that you start to think who will kill them first, a monster or lack of oxygen?

The acting is pretty good. I believe them, although at some points they underplay very much.

The editing of the film is just weird. Scenes are cut short and at some points we don't even see who is speaking or what is happening.

P. S. The ending of the film is very fast and choppy. They just closed their pool but this raises a question. Do other residents have water that doesn't come from this source? And where is this source located? Was it really only one family that lived here and why don't they talk about the others?