‘Night Swim’ VOD Review

Stars: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Gavin Warren, Amélie Hoeferle, Jodi Long, Eddie Martinez, Elijah J. Roberts, Rahnuma Panthaky, Ben Sinclair, Ellie Araiza | Written by Bryce McGuire, Rod Blackhurst | Directed by Bryce McGuire

Released in 2014, Bryce McGuire and Rod Blackhurst made a proof-of-concept short film called Night Swim. Citing inspirations such as Jaws, Christine, and Poltergeist, the ensuing four minutes play with the uncanny feeling of being watched by somebody, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. It was an impressive enough debut that Blumhouse picked it up for a feature-length adaptation, also entitled Night Swim, although the results are more sink than swim.

After a degenerative illness forces him into early retirement, former baseball player Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) moves into a new house with his wife, Eve Waller (Kerry Condon), and their two children. With a backyard swimming pool offering fun for the kids and physical therapy for the dad, that glimmer of hope is extinguished by the revelation of a malevolent force lurking within the pool.

With James Wan attached as producer, there were hopes that this haunted swimming pool tale could be an entertaining throwback to ridiculous horror concepts, much like 1995’s The Mangler. While this direction is not taken, what disappoints is how the path instead taken by writer/director McGuire is boring to watch. The largest reason is due to how the barebones concept is approached, with seemingly little idea of how to beef up this short film for the 98-minute runtime.

What feels just out of reach are the interesting character arcs, particularly involving Ray adjusting to leaving behind the career that he loves. The most potential lies with son Elliot (Gavin Warren), who struggles to follow in his dad’s footsteps due to his poor performance on the baseball team. These hints just call attention to how what appears on-screen feels underdeveloped, and even forgotten about in favour of tired jump scares involving uninspired ghostly designs.

Flickers of promise appear throughout Night Swim, especially involving perspective shots of characters swimming, yet such ideas feel wasted on this film which does not leave the shallow end.

* 1/5

Night Swim is out now on VOD and Digital Platforms.