RELEASED NIGHT SWIM
(UK 15/ROI 15, 98 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, available to rent from April 8 on Amazon/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other platforms, available from April 22 on DVD/Blu-ray, Horror/Thriller/Romance) Starring: Kerry Condon, Wyatt Russell, Amelie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Nancy Lenehan, Eddie Martinez, Elijah Roberts.
Professional baseball player Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) is devastated when a degenerative neurological condition forces him into early retirement. He secretly hopes to return to the sport that gave him purpose but concerned wife Eve (Kerry Condon) urges him to be realistic for the sake of their two children, Izzy (Amelie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren), as the couple seek a forever home to put down roots and meet Ray’s accessibility needs. A conveniently vacant property with a neglected swimming pool catches their eye. An ancient spring feeds the pool and Ray experiences an extraordinary turnaround in physical health by taking twice daily dips.
However, medical miracles come at a price and his loved ones experience disturbing visions that seem to be luring them to the deep end.
Night Swim is an efficient and mildly unsettling paddle in troubled waters, anchored by a strong performance from Condon as a fiercely protective matriarch determined to shield her broken brood from further harm.
An unsettling prologue soaked in the night-time humidity of summer 1992 teases what might be lurking in the shimmering aqua but most of the film’s gentle scares take place in broad daylight so the nondescript title could be hosed down with something like gH2Osts or Ghouls by the Pool.
Assured direction keeps the film afloat through preposterous plot twists, emboldened with neat camerawork above and below the waterline to milk discomfort from ominous ripples and reflections.
Horror films sink or swim by their scares and Bryce McGuire’s picture never makes a big splash in that regard, telegraphing waterlogged misfortune far in advance. There are only so many ways the script can creatively drown cast members before the thrashing becomes repetitive.
Pacing reduces to a crawl before a lacklustre final reckoning.