The Midnight Swim

This is not a horror film, rather it is semi drama and semi pseudo-philosophical tripe, which ends up making no sense. Waste of time watching it.

This was 90 minutes of boredom saved only by the fact that the three sisters are very pretty and you wouldn't mind being stuck in a house with them for a long weekend. As far as any horror elements - I couldn't find them. This was a feminist romp through crazy town and that's pretty much it.

This movie was rooted in outstanding performances by the sisters. Lindsay Burdge is a flat out amazing actress and was maybe even out-acted by Jennifer Lafleur and Aleska Palladino. Their performances alone kept me watching.

However, I am not sure where are these reviews of "horror" and "haunting" are coming from. This movie baits you in to think there will be some bone-chilling climax, but never delivers. This may steer many people away that go into this movie expecting some chills. it is FLAT OUT not suspenseful at all.

This movie is a great story, it is mind bending, and thought provoking with some great acting...but that is where it stops. The story progresses slowly and never really capitalizes on the small moments that are set to build up suspense.

If you do watch, go into it as a short drama with good performances. Do not expect to be blown away by suspense or a thrilling plot.

If you're all about the feels and could care less about substance, you'll probably love this and coo about it to all your gal (and maybe certain guy) pals.

Solid film-making and acting are wasted.

For a better movie, with a similar concept, setting and an actual payoff, watch Honeymoon (2014).

I saw this film at the Ithaca Fantastic Film Festival two days ago and still haven't quite gotten over it. The Midnight Swim is a story of three sisters, their dead mother, and a lake. It is at once a piercing family drama, a somber meditation on life and death, and the creepiest film I have seen since The Orphanage in 2008. It is also an excellent example of how a small budget can work to a film's advantage when the film-makers are bearing a surplus of imagination and intelligence.

I won't give away the story, but the film is shot in point-of-view style by one of the sisters, who is collecting footage for a documentary about her family. I have always been of two minds about POV film-making. While I have admired the visceral immediacy of this approach, I have often missed in it the deeper emotional resonances that are possible in conventional film-making. One of the revelations of this movie for me is that a film can have both of these qualities at the same time.

I was also bowled over by the cast. If these three actresses aren't sisters, they could be. The documentary style gives them nowhere to hide, and the performances had to be spotless in order for the film to work. (They are spotless and at times absolutely hair-raising.) Greatly to actors' credit, it is impossible to tell how much of the dialogue was written and how much of it was improvised.

Two days later, I am still brooding on this movie. It is beautiful, troubling, weird and enthralling -- a film to haunt one's dreams.