I was asked to review this film by the owner of The Horror Times, and I didn’t know why until I saw the film. You see, the father in the movie has multiple sclerosis (MS) as do I, hence I could relate to it from that point of view. Well, it’s not about MS it’s interesting what happens which I’ll explain later. Universal Pictures released Night Swim in January 2024 in theaters with Blumhouse producing the movie like they do nowadays with so many horror films.
Kerry Condon, Wyatt Russell, Amelie Hoeferle, and Gavin Warren
It starts in 1992 with a young girl seeing a toy boat floating in the family pool at night, she decides to jump in to get it and then tragedy strikes. The film then time jumps ahead, and we see a couple Ray (Wyatt Russell (At the Devil’s Door [2014])) and his wife Eve (Kerry Condon (Bad Samaritan [2018])) looking for a place to live since he is no longer playing professional baseball due to an illness. Soon we see Ray at the doctor, and this is when we find out that he has MS and is having a lot of mobility issues, the family moves into a house with a spring water pool and Ray can begin his water therapy which is very helpful to people with MS. It is here that the strange occurrences start happening to each person as they swim for example their son Elliot (Gavin Warren) gets jostled around and he discovers the pool vent and a little girl’s voice who happens to be the same girl who died in the beginning of the movie, a hand grabs him. Then, the teenage daughter, Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) is playing “Marco Polo” with her boyfriend, and she gets pulled under as well. Ray goes back to the doctor and realizes his MS is almost reversed (which is nearly impossible – you can go into remission, but you will always have it) – the pool seems to be curing him. At a pool party he exhibits possession by the pool by the black evilness that has been lurking, and results in a traumatic situation and further causes problems for the family. Concerned Eve investigates the history of the house and pool, finds out that more than one person has died in the pool and the haunted pool wants to take a life to make another’s better. Therefore, Ray’s cure is to be healed, one of his kids must be sacrificed. You’ll have to watch the movie to see what happens.
Amelie Hoeferle
The film isn’t very suspenseful as I didn’t jump one time and anyone that knows me I get startled easily. I think an evil, haunted pool is a good premise however this film doesn’t go far enough. I recommend this to people just starting out watching horror movies as it’s a good starting point to start your journey into getting scared at the next one.
Kerry Condon
TAGLINE:
- Everything you fear is under the surface.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9682428/
IMDb Rating: 4.7/10
3C Rating: 4.5/10