Night Swim (15)

Dir: Bryce McGuire

Cast: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren

Kerry Condon and Wyatt Russell try their best to keep the latest Blumhouse horror afloat but this schlocky swimming pool horror never truly embraces its ridiculous concept

In recent times it has almost become a new year tradition to follow up the weighty award laden films of December with schlocky and unchallenging horror movies. The early January window is usually desolate when it comes to new releases, so horror movie mogul Jason Blum often capitalises on the situation by releasing one of his many low-budget horror titles. Last January, Blumhouse treated us with the hilariously campy M3gan, a tongue-in-cheek comedy horror following the titular, Chucky-esque killer robot doll. The film became an online sensation, with many clips (including a dancing M3gan) going viral, resulting in the character becoming a modern horror icon and the film itself smashing at the box-office.

After what I would consider a strong year for cinema, Blumhouse are back with their latest in a long line of January horror releases, the swimming pool based horror, Night Swim. The film’s origins go all the way back to 2014, when writer-director Bryce McGuire released his low-budget five-minute short film of the same name. Inspired by his childhood fear of his backyard swimming pool after first being exposed to Steven Spielberg‘s 1975 classic, Jaws, an aspiring McGuire created the short film in an effort to break into the film industry. After years of racking up the views on YouTube, it was not long before McGuire’s creation was passed onto modern horror auteur and frequent Blumhouse collaborator, James Wan.

Now financially backed by production companies Atomic Monster and Blumhouse, McGuire was allowed to write and direct the big screen adaptation of his own work, which went into production following ‘M3gan‘s success. Having never seen it, I am unfamiliar with the short film but it seems apparent that McGuire struggled to successfully flesh out the original five minute short into something as original or immediately memorable as ‘M3gan‘.

The film follows the Waller family, consisting of husband and wife, Ray and Eve (Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon), their teenage daughter Izzy (Amelie Hoeferle) and younger son Elliot (Gavin Warren). After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Ray is forced to retire from professional baseball as the family searches for a house that tailors to his worsening condition. Coming to the end of their house-hunting, the family come across and purchase a seemingly nice but derelict property in a communal neighbourhood, which despite being lived in by past occupants, has a swimming pool that has remained unused following a fatal incident almost three decades prior.

The Wallers quickly settle into their new life, with a rejuvenated Ray using the pool regularly as part of his therapy. With everything going swimmingly in their new home, it is not long before the eerie past of the property’s swimming pool comes back to haunt them – literally. After several creepy encounters whilst in the pool alone, Eve, Izzy and Elliot begin to suspect that there is a mysterious and dangerous presence in the pool, despite the reassurances of the family patriarch, whose personal connection with the pool as seen him find a new lease of life.

Whilst it may not hit the extreme lows of of many previous January horror releases, it remains way off the standard set by Blumhouse with the release of ‘M3gan‘ last year. With an absolutely ludicrous central premise of a cursed swimming pool, this film could have been a success if it truly embraced its admittedly silly concept. As seen with the countless schlocky horrors of the 1980’s, the more insincere and exaggerated tone of these movies may not elevate them to greatness but allow the audience to get some kicks out of good old trashy fun. A great recent example of this being the surprisingly entertaining 2022 horror film, Smile. Much like ‘Night Swim‘ and several other recent horror films, ‘Smile’ was self-adapted from the writer-director’s short film. The film’s creator, Parker Finn, fully understood the brief when it came to adapting his own work, finding the right balance between horror and comedy, not taking the creepy but daft concept of people smiling too seriously. This is what ultimately sinks ‘Night Swim‘, with the haunted swimming pool angle being approached with a stony face, making a potentially notable and silly horror, instantly forgettable.

Whilst I do feel there were adaptation issues here, there are signs of promise for McGuire as a filmmaker, particularly based on the film’s first act. There were a couple fleeting moments of genuine creepiness and the film is competently shot, with decent framing, music and a good level of suspense. There are also some decent central performances by the talented Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon, the latter of which riding high off her Oscar nomination for The Banshees of Inisherin last year. It does make you question Condon’s choice of project here in what is a thankless role given her recent success.

Ultimately the latest venture by master of the indie horror, Jason Blum, is yet another forgettable missed opportunity. After a solid but uninspired first act the film rapidly begins to sink to new depths as the audience is left as cold and emotionless as the underwritten central characters.

Note: If you ever think your swimming pool is haunted….maybe just don’t swim in it

Night Swim is now showing in UK Cinemas