Reed: So, we watched that new horror movie, Night Swim…

Griffin: And it was…decent.

Reed: “Decent?” “Decent?” It’s one of the best horror movies in recent years! 

Griffin: Oh, please! Admittedly, it gets great mileage out of a simple premise, but beyond that, it’s hardly memorable. 

Reed: Which reminds me–we need to talk about the simple premise. Night Swim is a Blumhouse horror film, based on a previous short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire (who directed the full-length feature). At the center of this tale of terror is the Waller family, comprised of ex-baseball legend Ray (Wyat Russell), whose career has been sidetracked since he contracted multiple sclerosis; his loving wife Eve (Kerry Condon); and their two children, Izzie (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren). 

Griffin: While driving into the neighborhood they’ve chosen to settle down in, the Wallers encounter a for-sale home–with, critically, a pool, which Ray hopes to use in his physical therapy so he can mount a comeback. The only problem is, this pool is haunted by an evil entity that caused a young girl to drown in the pool at the beginning of the film! Before long, the pool monster is stalking the Wallers, appearing as menacing there-and-gone figures, pleading disembodied voices, and a murky dark cloud of…something…that rises up from the pool depths.

Reed: Even so, the pool doesn’t yet seem directly threatening. In fact, it even appears to rejuvenate Ray, healing his MS more extensively than any common physical therapy ever could. But though the water heals his body, it also seeks to use him for its own purposes…

Griffin: And a good thing that is for Ray, too! It takes demonic possession just for this guy to have a wider personality. Every other word out of this guy’s mouth is something about baseball. There might be a kernel of drama in the way we see him yearning to get back in the game, but that gets old fast, leaving the audience with only a single dimension to such a central character. 

Reed: Well, okay, but maybe the point here is that Ray’s need to get back into baseball has made him one-dimensional–it’s all he thinks about. In fact, this obsession with Ray’s athletic past feeds directly into the drama of the movie, as the rejuvenating power of the pool tempts him even while it starts to seem like it might not be so safe in the water.

Griffin: Perhaps he could be seen as a dramatic character, then–if there were other dramatic characters surrounding him. And yet there aren’t: Elliot’s response to everything is to cry “Mom!”, and most of what we see of Izzie is her teen romance with Ronan, a member of the local high school’s Christian Swim Club. Eve fares better in terms of dimensionality. Besides being there for Ray, she’s seeking a job as a special ed teacher, and it’s she who seeks out the true nature of the pool. Nevertheless, the people in this movie are mostly mere pawns, to be used for the sake of the plot.

Reed: But in a horror movie, not all the fear factor has to come from the characters! This film benefits from exceptional cinematography, especially in the pool. Shots from underwater, from overhead, and from swimmers’ points of view give an image of the pool, and the constantly shifting perspective builds tension as we wait for whatever we’re supposed to see. What’s more, many pool jumpscares take place at night and/or underwater–scenes with low visibility, which makes it difficult to fully make out the zombie-esque pool beast as it seizes innocent victims. 

In fact, water itself is a brilliant character in this film! It’s a creeping, eldritch being that taunts its victims with the voices of innocent children and tempts them to sacrifice their loved ones in pursuit of their deepest desires. And yet, when Izzie is swimming with Ronan and he disappears, she calls out “Marco?” with mounting dread…and the pool thing is human enough to reply “Polo” before it drags her underwater, as a chilling joke. I wonder if the filmmakers are Stephen King fans, because the pool thing feels like a merging of the monsters from It and Pet Sematary–beyond and outside humanity, yet as sadistic and sinister as any human.

Griffin: Hmm…okay, I guess I can see that. Well, that’s all I have to say. Ready for the sum-up, Reed?

Reed: Sure thing! Night Swim–jump on in, the water’s evil!