By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
For the second January in a row, Blumhouse Productions in coordination with Atomic Monster released a horror film, but this time with more effort and talent. On the surface, “Night Swim” seems like another misfire with a silly premise of a haunted swimming pool, but as the audience wades deeper into the plot, they realize this is a pretty well thought out storyline with nicely developed characters. Add in some creative filmmaking style to heighten the tension and elicit some genuine jump scares, and this film turns out to be an entertaining watch.
After being diagnosed with a degenerative illness affecting his motor skills, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) is forced into early retirement from professional baseball. While this is a devastating blow for the Waller family, Ray tries to remain positive and focus on being a good husband to Eve Waller (Kerry Condon) and a good father to their children Izzy (Amelie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren). Ray and Eve decide to move into a home with a swimming pool for the kids’ enjoyment and for his own physical therapy. Little did they know there is a very dark history associated with this pool.
At first, the more time Ray spends exercising in the pool, the more his strength and health seem to be dramatically improving. This great news overshadows the inexplicable scary moments Eve and the kids experience while swimming. It becomes clear these supernatural events reveal a sinister motive and a price to be paid that could have lethal consequences for members of the Waller family.
Writer/director Bryce McGuire had previously created “Night Swim” as a short film in 2014, which was then purchased by Atomic Monster (James Wan), who retained Bryce to write and direct the feature length version. PG-13 horror films are more often bad than not, but it forces filmmakers to focus on plot and more creative ways to scare viewers instead of relying purely on a deluge of blood and guts like most R-rated horror films do. Bryce proves to be up to the challenge, sculpting a captivating story of this family dealing with real-life issues, investing the audience in these characters. While this means a slower start to the movie than horror fans may like, it forms an attachment that heightens the tension and suspense whenever one of these characters finds themselves in danger.
It is then up to the director to drive those horrific moments home and Bryce does a decent job of that, using sound and cinematography to enhance fear. There’s one scene where the view of the camera is submerged then lifted out of the water repeatedly to capture the swimmer’s perspective. This distorts the visuals just enough to tease viewers into a sense of foreboding. Bryce also incorporates that underwater sound effect to again put viewers into a first-person perspective with impaired hearing and sight, increasing audience awareness and fear that something terrible is about to happen. Unfortunately, these thoughtful tactics are completely undermined by the poor use of CGI that make the monstrously demonic apparitions look silly and cartoonish, quickly extinguishing that rising sense of terror. Despite this, Bryce is still able to manufacture some pretty good jump scares even when he telegraphs them.
With a strong dedication to plot and character development, a strong cast is needed to make it believable, and that’s just what this film has. Wyatt Russell, named after the iconic role of Wyatt Earp that his father Kurt portrayed in “Tombstone,” is a talented actor with a solid resumé. He’s able to own his backstory of a professional ballplayer whose love for the game is stolen by a horrible disease. Wyatt successfully shows the internal struggle of his character’s selfish desires with the love of his family. He’s also currently starring with his father in the acclaimed Apple TV production “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.”
His co-star happens to be Oscar nominated actress Kerry Condon, who was brilliant in “The Banshees of Inisherin” last year. Kerry is a gifted Irish actress who immerses herself in this role as the protective mother suspicious of the strange occurrences happening to her family. Her fear for her family’s safety is palpable, creating an authentic performance that steals the show.
It is easy to offer scathing criticisms of this film based on the trailer and premise of a haunted pool, but that would be a mistake. “Night Swim” may not be a great horror movie, but don’t judge a book by its cover. Keep an open mind with this one, and you may be pleasantly surprised.
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