Review
Night Swim (Horror, Thriller) (2024)
Director: Bryce McGuire
Writer: Bryce McGuire, Rod Blackhurst
Stars: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren
Moving into a new home, a family of four is dismayed to discover the backyard pool is condemned by an evil presence residing within.
As the inaugural consolidation project between Jason Blum, James Wan and their respective companies. Bryce McGuire's "Night Swim" shows a contained horror flick using a swimming pool as the haunting site. Inspiration came from classic films such as "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "The Abyss" coming to fruition in the original short, also called "Night Swim", dating back to 2014. It was filmed in Altadena, California, with water-based cinematography shot in an Olympic swimming pool in Chatsworth. "Night Swim" has been produced by Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster while being distributed by Universal Pictures.
Leaving a tremendous baseball career behind, due to a medical condition. Ray (Wyatt Russell), his wife Eve (Kerry Condon) and their two children, Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren), are in-search of a permanent home. Shown several properties by a real estate agent their efforts remain fruitless. Until, by chance, driving past an unlisted home, they're quickly optimistic that they've found their future home, partly due to the backyard swimming pool. However, once they've lived there for some time, the children discover an evil lurks within, while Ray's condition is seemingly being cured by its supposed restorative properties.
Deviating from the usual haunted manors and other residences, McGuire, alongside the horror moguls of Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, creates a unique haunt within American suburbia meant to drown audiences in fear.
Returning to the 90s, a young girl in Dalabayeva's Rebecca is shown as the presumptive first victim of this pool-lurking entity. Unsure of what exact evil resides there, we're forwarded in time, leaving this glimpse of foulness behind. From a caring yet somewhat distant father to a rebellious teen, the Waller family isn't much different from any other. Scenes with Condon's Eve and the children swimming create ample opportunity to allow the impish fiend or entity to tease with frights, usually in the form of luring the resident in question to the pool drains. 
Due to the limited and contained maleficence, it seems the narrative is formed to attempt to induce heightened anxiety when members or guests of the Waller family enter the pool. Yet, the opposite can also be true, thus meaning the removal of any tension, surprise or shock. Creative ways around it just being this isolated restorative yet evil water font could've removed that safety blanket and provided a less predictable viewing.
Often left numbed by the genre, "Night Swim" had promise in the creative placement of the evil essence, though, replacing creeping trepidation with plodding drama even that mediocre. An unsureness wraps around the entire plot and reflects upon the viewer; a point where the monster is visible was exciting, knowing what it was, even winking in an "It" reference. It was wise to use an actual pool, filming underwater sections, which, combined with the foggy water's surface, creates a satisfying and atmospheric aesthetic. Besides minimal moments of clarity being left in murky waters, McGuire's narrative lacks enough substance to provide a full-feature film.
Verdict
Predictably shallow.
4,5
