Night Swim review: Stay out of the water

With Night Swim, Atomic Monster and Blumhouse attempt to put a fresh spin on the haunted house formula. In this horror flick, it’s not the house that’s haunted – it’s the pool.

So, yes: this is the same kind of goofy-yet-genius, high-concept/low-budget premise that’s propelled other Blumhouse efforts such as M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to box office success.

Night Swim cribs from the established Blumhouse playbook in terms of its casting, too. There’s some serious acting pedigree in this movie, courtesy of headliners Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon.

Yet a fun premise and credible performances aren’t enough to keep Night Swim afloat, and it ultimately drowns under the weight of its derivative, overstuffed story.

Something wicked this way swims

Based on a short film co-produced by writer-director Bryce McGuire, Night Swim introduces us to ex-Major League Baseball player Ray Waller (Russell) and his wife, Eve (Condon). Together with their kids Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren), Ray and Eve slowly begin to realize that a malevolent force lurks beneath the surface of their new house’s swimming pool.

This setup should be ridiculous – and to some extent, it is. However, to McGuire’s credit, he wrings a lot of scares out of Night Swim’s “possessed pool” conceit, especially during the nail-biting opening scene.

Cinematographer Charlie Sarroff, sound designer P.K. Hooker, and composer Mark Korven deserve a decent share of the kudos, as well. Combined, the trio’s eerie visuals and soundscape transform a backyard swimming hole into an ominous abyss.

But it’s rarely what we see or hear that sends shivers down our spines in Night Swim – it’s what we don’t. The film is at its most effective when it lets our imaginations do the heavy lifting. Sure, water-logged ghouls are creepy. But a toy boat appearing from nowhere? That’s straight-up nightmare fuel.

It also doesn’t hurt that we give a damn about the Wallers. Russell, Condon, Hoeferle, and Warren are believable (and crucially, likable) as a family unit. So, when Night Swim’s submerged spooks start making waves, we’re rooting for them to survive.

Familiar waters for horror movie fans

Sadly, the deeper into Night Swim we wade, the less screentime McGuire and editor Jeff McEvoy devote to the family drama side of things. Russell and Condon in particular do their best to make the film’s themes of love and sacrifice hit home, but lack the elbow room necessary to do so.

Instead, this runtime is given over to increasingly unoriginal supernatural shenanigans. It’s not just that McGuire ticks off every classic horror movie trope – it’s that he raids the movies themselves. Rejigged concepts and set pieces from Jaws, IT, The Shining, and Poltergeist are all easily recognizable in Night Swim. Hardcore horror buffs will no doubt spot even more.

The knock-on effect of this is that Night Swim becomes increasingly unfocused the longer it runs. Forget the pool: this is a kitchen sink approach to telling a spooky story. At the same time, Night Swim’s lore is also deceptively shallow; you’ll exit with plenty of unanswered questions – and not entirely by design.

Night Swim review score: 2/5

Quibbles such as these seemingly betray Night Swim’s short-form origins. It’s as if McGuire only had enough material for 30 or so minutes’ worth of compelling story, and floundered once that ran out.

Indeed, watching Night Swim is a lot like engaging in its nocturnal namesake: you’ll have fun at first, but it won’t be long until you’re over it.

Night Swim arrives in cinemas on January 5. For all the latest TV and movie news and updates, check out Dexerto’s full coverage here.