This is a review for the 2024 movie “Night Swim”.
Night Swim is the January horror movie from Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster. It is directed by Bryce McGuire, and based on a short film by the same man. Notably produced by modern horror icons James Wan and Jason Blum – it stars Wyatt Russell and academy award nominee Kerry Condon in a movie about a haunted swimming pool.
What is Night Swim?
I just told you, it’s a movie about a haunted swimming pool. Night Swim is almost a parody of the type of horror movie that we can expect out of January. A movie idea that is seemingly born from mad libs and then turned into a 90-minute feature. In this case, director McGuire appears to have drawn “injured baseball player”, “swimming pools” and “The Shining”. They laughed and said it was impossible to make a coherent movie that combined those three elements – and they might’ve been right – but he put in a darn good effort.
Night Swim follows unwillingly retired baseball player Ray Waller (Russell) and his family, as they move to a new neighbourhood, to find a place to settle. As you can probably guess, that house has a pool… a pool that each family member starts to have weird encounters with. Eve (Condon) starts to see figures outside of the pool, as she swims. Ray, on the other hand, finds that the pool appears to be having a healing impact on him. His doctors are telling him that they’ve never seen such rapid recovery… maybe he will play baseball again. But, at what cost?
Every part of the plot is an excuse for a cool pool set-piece, and yes – they are all cool. The pool is used to its full potential, with every single aspect of it being explored. If you’ve ever been scared of something pool-related, prepare to face that fear. From sticking your hand into the drain, to having the pool cover close above you; this is the Final Destination for people afraid of swimming.
Is it a good movie?
As far as movies about haunted swimming pools go, I think you would struggle to find a better one. Look, this isn’t going to be winning awards; and probably isn’t going to appear on any Top 50 horror movie lists. It isn’t goofy enough to be a Malignant; or interesting enough to be a Get Out – but it’s a serviceable use of 100 minutes. The acting is good, and it’s overflowing with imagination. My biggest pet peeve with horror is when a concept is not fully explored. That is a criticism that would be ridiculous to apply here, wringing its premise for every last drop.
It’s not perfect, and the ending falls apart – but it’s enjoyable.
The movie does try to play with some themes of sacrifice, which fall flat on their face. I watched this on the same day that I watched Baghead (2024), which suffered from a similar problem. The difference here, however, is that this movie doesn’t rely on its themes. I’m here for the haunted swimming pool, not to think too hard about what this says about humanity. I can respect a movie that knows what it is, and doesn’t push its luck.
Related: Baghead (2024) Review
Who should watch Night Swim?
Don’t run to the theatre, but once this is on streaming – it’s worth checking out, if you’re looking for a small horror. It’s similar to last year’s M3gan, in that respect. Don’t expect anything, and you’ll probably have an enjoyable time.
Rating: 6 / 10
This was a review for the 2024 movie “Night Swim”. Did you enjoy this movie, or did it fail to make a splash? Let us know in the comments below.
