30. Night Swim; movie review

 

NIGHT SWIM

Cert 15

98 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong horror

I have been watching horror films for decades, and they need more originality and quirks than Night Swim to pique my interest.

Bryce McGuire's film is a one-trick pony; a family moves into a house with a haunted swimming pool.

And that's pretty much it.

When any of them goes swimming, they risk their lives because they are likely to be literally sucked into its plug hole.

You'd think anyone would want to stay on dry land after the first dark encounter, but, oh no, this bunch go on to invite friends around and even have a neighbourhood pool party!

Night Swim stars Wyatt Russell as a baseball player who is sidelined from his career because of a severe progressive illness.

He requires intense rehabilitation in the best possible surroundings. Thus, he and his wife (Kerry Condon) decide to move into a new home with their teenage daughter (Amélie Hoeferle) and younger son (Gavin Warren).

It has been suggested that water therapy would benefit him, so they choose an empty house with a pool, unaware of its past.

Yep, several years previously, a young girl (Ayazhan Dalabayeva) disappeared into the water, never to re-emerge.

The more they swim, the more the danger ratchets up. Meanwhile the family cannot leave the house because of a supernatural complication.

For me, this is horror by numbers. Think Pennywise in a swimming pool; you would be on the right line.

For the majority of the film I was bored but I did jump twice, which is why my mark is higher than it would have been.

Reasons to watch: One for horror addicts

Reasons to avoid: So daft

Laughs: None

Jumps: Two

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? Night Swim was originally a four-minute short with the same title, writer and director and was released in 2014.

The final word. Bryce McGuire: "It’s more than just a pool; there's a deeper, more ancient backstory there that the pool is just a part of, and that was really important to me." Screen Rant

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