The Pool

I can't count how often the two main characters acted dumb in this movie, but I still suffered for these weirdos. The stage is as simple as can: A deep pool, pumped out, at first 1 and then 2 dumb people plus 1 crocodile. Fading out that the crocodile might kill a person in some minutes, there were tough moments. I did like the production by building up suspense with minimal things like a ringing cellphone or a dog taking notice of them both. There are so many little things to notice that it makes the (tolerant) audience shiver with impatience of what happens next. A more sober audience will only count the dumb fails of the two protagonists. So I would recommend that movie to an uncritical audience, which just wants to have some entertainment. It has a wicked idea I like.

If you're told the water was released in a 20 foot deep pool with no steps or ladders, you don't decide it's the best time go to sleep on a raft. As soon as he did that I was out of the movie because there was no way anyone is actually this stupid and I couldn't root for this moron surviving.

A better idea would have had him getting out of the pool minutes after his friend left and having him slip and hit his head passing out in the water and then waking up when the water was low.

Having him decide to take a freaking nap as the water was going down just made him too stupid to live and you just want the croc to eat him as soon as it fell inside the pool.

But the croc was too busy sleeping with a perfectly placed roll of duct tape in it's mouth that the dummy needed.

And then there's the idiot girlfriend with the diving fetish...she wants to dive so badly that even after she sees the pool only 1/4 filled she makes a giddy beeline for the diving board. What the hell??

And to make matters worse, these idiots procreated and have their idiot spawn growing inside her. You just want to root for the croc!

I stumbled upon "The Pool" by random chance. I hadn't heard about it. I didn't know who starred in it. I didn't even know what it was about. It was a Thai movie, and given my fascination and interest in Asian cinema, then of course I took the chance to sit down and watch the 2018 movie "The Pool" from director and writer Ping Lumpraploeng.

So how was this movie? Well, actually it was quite good, taking into consideration the relative simplicity of the storyline. But the movie was also somewhat predictable, but still turned out to be thrilling and exciting.

The concept idea of the storyline is having a guy stranded in a pool with no means of escape, since the pool has been drained of enough water to make it impossible for him to reach the top of the basin. Then comes help, in the form of his pregnant girl friend, but things go horribly awry. And to make matters worse, a crocodile ends up in the pool as well, also with no means of escape.

The movie was entertaining from beginning to end, though some of the scenes were definitely quite generic and you know what would happen even from a mile away.

The crocodile was adequate, though some of the close-up scenes where it attacked Day was painstakingly CGI animated and you could see that even with your eyes closed.

The acting was good, and heeradej Wongpuapan (playing Day) and Ratnamon Ratchiratham (playing Koy) were actually performing well and carried the movie with enough confidence that the storyline worked out in their hands.

However, "The Pool" is hardly a masterpiece in Thai cinema, nor is it a movie that you are likely to watch more than just once.

This movie is beyond ridiculous. Even totally funny at times as the characters actions are completely beyond reason or doesn't make any logical sense at all. I decided to review it with a 6 star rating though as I enjoyed watching it and it was pretty funny so I enjoyed it. If you're looking for a serious horror or thriller movie then this definitely isn't for you however if you're looking for some light hearted easy going suspense/comedy it's not bad. If it wasn't as ridiculous and funny I'd probably have given it 2 stars. Just so you are aware as well, the whole movie is available for free on YouTube with subtitles.

Firstly the plot on how ridiculously the man gets trapped into a deep pool. Why to have a ladder inside the pool, no need for that. Secondly, how much time would it take to empty a huge pool like that with only 1 small drain? My guess is he would have starved before getting trapped there. Thirdly the crocodile, you see more lifely crocs in some video games, this one was so bad, even the acting of the croc. Did they take some zoologist with them when they created that croc? Don't think so, cuz the croc behaved more like an angry dog than a crocodile. But still the movie was catchy, very catchy to say the least.