Aquaphobia is the fear of water. With this in mind, the news is rife with reports of pool drownings every year, and almost every year Hollywood churns out a water-centric flick that has someone or a group in peril and has to figure a way to survive. Of course, this does not necessarily mean these waters are haunted, it just means Hollywood knows how to capitalize on fear. Looking back, the first ‘haunted water’ movie would arguably have been 2000’s What Lies Beneath. Starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, What Lies Beneath was a successful chiller, and featured that finds a woman questioning if her lakeside home is haunted or if she is losing her mind.
Twenty-four years later, Night Swim arrived in theaters on January 5, 2024 through Universal Pictures. A Blumhouse and Atomic Monster bannered feature, produced by Jason Blum and James Wan, it tells the story of a family that moves into a new home, unaware that a dark secret from the house’s past will unleash a malevolent force in the backyard pool.
Directed by Bryce McGuire (Unfollowed 2018, Witchcraft Motion Picture Company Presents: Horror Anthology – Volume 1 2022), written by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst (Witchcraft Motion Picture Company Presents: Horror Anthology – Volume 1 2022, Blood for Dust 2023), in case you missed the theatrical run, Nightswim was swiftly released to digital platforms on January 23rd, before a DVD and Blu-ray physical format edition arrived on April 9th through Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Giving you various viewing options, it stars Jodi Long (Rollover 1981, The Monkey King 2023) as Lucy Summers, Ayazhan Dalabayeva (in her feature debut) as Rebecca Summers, and Joziah Lagonoy (The Paper Tigers 2020, Didi 2024) as Tommy, they are the first family we meet in the house. To follow, Wyatt Russell (Soldier 1998, The Woman in the Window 2021) as Ray Waller, Kerry Condon (Angela’s Ashes 1999, In The Land of Saints and Sinners 2023) as Eve Waller, Amélie Hoeferle (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 2023) as Izzy Waller who move in with Gavin Warren (Back Roads 2018, Man in the White Van 2023) as Elliot Waller. Then, we are off for the ride.
Night Swim has gotten a bad rap, and it has been compared to 1977’s The Amityville Horror… just in a pool. Shades of the classic can be seen; with the pool’s ‘gift’s’ receiver getting warped in lust for improvement making whoever turns on anybody perceived to be a threat to ‘the gift.’ This is much like George Lutz being possessed. The difference is The Amityville Horror was based on real murders. Night Swim is not based on any real occurrence but on McGuire’s childhood in Florida; where he was surrounded by water and experienced boating accidents, hurricanes, and shark attacks.
McGuire also remembers an incident where he was treading water in his family’s pool at night and was convinced the water was an abyss. Anytime kids, or small pets for that matter, an extra level of horror is added. It is the idea of innocence possibly getting snuffed out without reason. The opening sequence sets the stage when Rebecca goes to retrieve her ailing brother’s toy boat from the pool, only to become consumed by the said pool.
The main theme for Night Swim is what the pool gives a person; it tries to take away/consume anybody else who comes in contact with the pool. This yin and yang theme lends credence to one of the ideas of the movie’s Japanese Horror as well as the mythology of the source of the pool’s water, which had an organic feel as well as the ‘curse’ following the previous owners’ long after they have left the premises. The aspect that might have Night Swim off with a different impression is how it begins with an Asian family living in the house, but the Wallers, who move into the house years after the place’s been vacated, are white.
Another theme that drives the movie once it gets going is how far is the receiver willing to go after receiving “the gift” to keep receiving the said gift. It is not overtly stated, but logically stands to reason that if the receiver doesn’t abide by ‘the rules,’ the gift can be taken away…and then some. Even at the expense of family.
Family is the last-running theme, and of course, there has to be something to lose, something or someone put in peril if they do or do not make it out unscathed. Only those with no empathy will feel nothing when they see a family with hopes either rise to the occasion or fall apart under life or death thrown at them. This especially goes back to the above statement that when kids and pets get thrown into the mix… heartstrings get pulled. We have seen this tool get used before, but unless the kid’s just an outright brat, most will root for him or her.
So, even though it might be full of tropes and have shades of Japanese Horror, or specifically of The Amityville Horror, Night Swim is a fun little ride. That is why Cryptic Rock gives it 4 out of 5 stars.
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