“Everything you fear is under the surface” is the tagline to Night Swim, the first major theatrical release of 2024. It’s a tagline that will likely live in infamy as there’s nothing under the surface of this film that’s interesting or compelling.
The movie tells the story of the Waller family, who are trying to move into a new house after Ray is forced into an early retirement by a degenerative illness. Tired of having to uproot his family, they look to settle down and think they’ve found the perfect house in a quiet neighborhood, complete with swimming pool. Unbeknownst to them there’s something in the pool water that led to the death of a young girl in the 90s and now has its sights set on the family.
Night Swim is particularly frustrating in extremely acute ways. Loathe as I am to make a lot of water puns in this review, but the script of this movie made me feel as though I was underwater. There’s sketches and outlines of the better movie this could have been but you can’t make it out.
There’s compelling drama and conflict within the story, but the movie doesn’t explore anything more than surface deep. Degenerative illness affecting the father? Never have that truly impact how the character moves or operates. Kids struggling to fit in due to their father’s career uprooting them? Mention it here or there and never show any significant moments with friends at school. Mom struggling to juggle husband kids and a new job? Well let’s not spend too much time at work. At every turn this movie cuts itself down before getting to any truth of its characters or its premise.
At 98 minutes, it’s trying to make the most of its run time but it gives the impression of just sticking your toe in the water, rather than jumping in fully. I have found myself making up head canons in my head to give more depth and unlike most films, I don’t feel out of place addressing what doesn’t seem to be here because it felt as though the movie purposefully removed stuff in the effort to make it lean. The production edicts are readily visible in the finished product. While the underwater scenes are particularly impressively directed by Bryce McGuire, the movie is constrained so tightly by the lack of locations that you don’t even spend much time settling into the story before we’re off to some other avenue. This intern really hurts the premise and foundation of the film because audiences know that the whole movie won’t take place in the water and Night Swim does not do much to make what’s out of the water compelling.
The scariest parts of this movie are not the supernatural elements, but the mundane regular tasks that by virtue of the character’s stupidity or the camera’s steadiness turn into harrowing experiences. However, when it comes to the actual horror and supernatural elements, the movie doesn’t manage to muster much in the way of shivers. I was more tense watching Kerry Condon cut a watermelon than watching the children have their water encounters.
Director/co-writer Bryce McGuire and co-writer Rod Blackhurst have crafted a story that is equal parts Amityville Horror, Poltergeist and Signs, but what was ultimately put on screen is a movie that’s a bit lost. Is Night Swim a serious movie or a movie trying to be fun by taking things serious? One would not know upon walking out which approach was taken and it ultimately proves to be the movie’s downfall.