The 2024 horror movie “Night Swim” (from Blumhouse Pictures) premiered with less than savory reviews in a month known for underwhelming releases in the horror genre. Directed by Bryce McGuire and featuring a relatively unknown cast, the movie revolves around a family haunted by their backyard pool.
The premise and title of the film were widely criticized leading up to the release and it appears that the full movie has done little to dispel these negative feelings from audiences. An uninspired name leaves the audience with no questions going into the movie and a similar lack of curiosity throughout the film.
The film serves as an expansion of McGuire’s previous short film of the same title. Unfortunately, a story about a haunted pool does not have much to say beyond a short film and the movie begins to feel tedious despite its short hour and thirty-eight minute runtime. An intriguing premise when only given three minutes cannot always support itself through a feature-length movie.
Where the short film excels, the feature length film falls flat. The simplicity of the title allows the short film to jump right into the action but fails to intrigue a larger audience. The feature film scrambles to fill the runtime with character exploration and a shaky explanation of how and why the pool is haunted. Meanwhile, the short film thrives on this unexplained portion of the premise and ends with an effective open-endedness.
Had the film leaned further into the ridiculousness of the plot, it might’ve been successful in conveying a desperate family in a strange situation. However, the film remains steadfast in its decision to take the plot seriously and the actors are given the tough job of convincing the audience that they wholeheartedly believe their pool is a sentient, haunted being with little doubt as to how this is possible.
“Night Swim” heavily relies on the sound design and makeup team to scare the viewer. Visual effects make the pool a personified and menacing character despite its stagnant place in the family’s backyard. A series of unsettling music cues accompany the typical jump scares that Blumhouse has come to be known for, and several of them manage to send a visible ripple through the audience.
Blumhouse Pictures is best known for their films, “The Black Phone”, “M3GAN”, and “Ma”. The production company is generally split into two different categories, R rated horror movies with the intention to shock and scare the viewer, and PG-13 horror movies that can appeal to a younger and broader audience.
“Night Swim” falls into the second category and suffers because of it. Held back by the tight restrictions of a PG-13 movie, it lacks the necessary scare factor to really draw the audience in and distract them from the ridiculousness of a pool being the central antagonist.
Blumhouse often relies on viral marketing and social media discussion when promoting their movies. The 2022 movie, “M3GAN” was a trending topic after the release of the first trailer because of the moment where she is seen performing a popular TikTok dance while holding a machete.
When trailers first started appearing for “Night Swim”, the title left most moviegoers feeling underwhelmed and surprised by the seemingly lack of effort put into it. A simple title is not synonymous with a bad movie but Blumhouse failed to capitalize on the buzz around the title, which could have benefited them with a better performance in the box office, as seen with “M3GAN”.
Wyatt Russell, best known for being the son of established actor Kurt Russell, plays the lead as a formerly successful baseball player now diagnosed with MS. The film shies away from truly exploring how this disease has impacted his career and life outlook, resulting in a character that feels flat and uninspired.
Russell’s on screen family is just as one dimensional, lacking the injection of personality that most horror characters need to compel the audience to root for them. The youngest member of the family has the most engaging story, seeing him pitted against his baseball teammate for the attention of his own father, ending with a dramatic conclusion of this storyline.
The shining moment in the film comes from Emmy winner Jodi Long, whose award winning performance came out of the Netflix series “Dash and Lily”. Long is responsible for a plot heavy monologue towards the climax of the film and successfully paints the pool as a formidable villain during her brief five minutes on screen.
While it’s always nice to see an independent filmmaker have the opportunity to reach a more mainstream audience, McGuire’s short film is a much better showcase of his talents both as a screenwriter and director. The short film remains on Youtube, or view it below, and is a more than worthy use of a free three minutes.