Night Swim Review

“Marco… Marco…” – Izzy Waller

Let’s address the huge, great elephant in the room shall we?

A haunted swimming pool? They’re kidding, right? I mean they HAVE to be.

Other than me, I can’t think of anybody who’s even wary of a swimming pool – and for the record, I was never taught how to swim as a child, so I avoid large bodies of water. I even shower instead of having a bath. At age 63, I feel it’s best that I leave large bodies of water to the creatures that live in them, and they can leave me alone on dry land. However, if I ever see a fish stroll down the High Street, I might reconsider.

But yes – it’s essentially a haunted swimming pool, more or less. And this made me curious, I mean how many times in horror movies have the swimming pools themselves presented a direct threat? Offhand, I can think of two. The lacklustre Curse of La Llorona (2019) and the superior Burnt Offerings (1976). Others have just had the swimming pool as a setting for a horror sequence.

So will Night Swim be the charm that does for swimming pools what Jaws did for the sea, or indeed Psycho did for showers? I was curious enough to undertake the drive to the multiplex to find out – and it’s always good to start the cinematic year off with a horror.

Other than drowning, I can’t really think of a threat that a swimming pool can present, so what gives here. How does a pool become horrific? Leave it to the talented folk at Blumhouse.

The Waller family buy a house with a pool, now knowing that the pool has a, well, a history. We’ve seen it claim a victim in a flashback before the film properly begins. The Waller family are Ray (Wyatt Russell, recently star of the Monarch Godzilla spin off series on Apple TV) Eve (Kerry Condon) and their kids Izzy (Amelie Hoferle) and Elliott (Gavin Warren). Ray is a professional baseball player, recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis who’s had to retire due to his illness.

They buy the house primarily because Ray can exercise in the water to help ease his condition. Even better, the pool is self-sustaining because the water comes from a natural spring. Ray soon notices that his health is indeed improving, but the other members of the family are encountering experiences far less pleasant.

The trouble is that the water itself is, well, it’s described as “bad” in the film. These springs go back millions of years and essentially the water will grant your fondest wish, in this case Ray’s wish to become healthy, but it’ll want something in return – a sacrifice.

And that’s basically a thumbnail of the plot. The question is, does it work? The online buzz about the movie is, it must be said, largely negative – and the film hasn’t exactly set the box office alight. Let’s address the takings first. Frankly, I wouldn’t expect it to make record money. Films released immediately after the holidays don’t. Audiences are more likely to stay cosy and warm in their homes, recovering from the financial onslaught of Christmas. And horror films just don’t break box office records. They tend to make their money via DVD or streaming.

As for the online negativity, again there’s nothing new there. We live in a world, where thanks to the World Wide Web, EVERYBODY’s a critic (even me!)

My own view is that the film was a competently put together slice of horror entertainment that wasn’t derivative, but presented audiences with something we haven’t seen before. The performances were all in all pretty strong, there were unusual and imaginative camera angles used by the cinematographer and the plot hung together pretty well. So, all in all, Blumhouse have pulled off yet another success in that the movie was indeed about a haunted (or at least possessed) swimming pool, and the best, most effective use was made of what was at first hearing of it, a really stupid concept.

I’ve seen far, FAR worse films with a far stronger concept that those self-same critics have gushed over, so I’m happy to be happy with Night Swim. (It’s as close to a swimming pool as I’m happy to get.)

Rob Rating = 7