"NIGHT SWIM": A Movie Review

NIGHT SWIM

Blurb:  A family moves into a new home, unaware that a dark secret from the house's past will unleash a malevolent force in the backyard pool.

Starring: 

Wyatt Russell

Kerry Condon

Amélie Hoeferle

Gavin Warren

Jodi Long

Nancy Lenehan

Directed by:  

Bryce McGuire

Written by: 

Bryce McGuire

Based on the short film Night Swim, by Bryce McGuire and Rod Blackhurst

BEN'S REVIEW:  

And so it's a movie about a family who move into a mysterious house. A well-known horror trope. But yet right off the bat, while some of it's typical, happily some of it is atypical. It seems we have some kind of haunted pool, but why is it haunted?

We find out from a pool technician that it is somehow connected with natural spring water and that the waters is the area used have natural pools that worked miracles and was well known for its wellness centers and health spas. In fact, our hero, a baseball player who is suffering an illness, begins to heal almost immediately after beginning to use it.

I liked that it felt real, the characters from main to the most minor felt real. Not like the obnoxious characters that fill these kinds of films.

But of course, weird things begin to happen. The pool lights begin to flicker, their are voices, a girl named Rebecca calls to the young son for help. And Ray, while coaching boys in baseball, feels a strange calling from the waters and hits an almost impossible ball.

And then the trouble really begins....

I was surprised at how very much I enjoyed this movie, especially considering the reviews and how well it performed. It was a creepy house movie with a twist that I had never seen before, and I liked the twists. A lot. It's up to you whether to watch it, if you like this trope I think you will like it, and it's up to you whether to keep reading.

BEN'S RATING:  ☕☕☕☕☕☕☕ X X X

BELOW THIS POINT THERE ARE SPOILERS...

FA creature makes a grab for Izzy, the daughter. A hand tries to grab Elli, the son. A dark mud-like substance sweeps up from the drain and enters Ray, the father, and apparently tries to force him to try and drown a boy at a pool party they're hosting. But Ray can only see that the pool is the greatest thing that's ever happened to him. But now the neighbors are afraid of the entire family.

I appreciated, and somewhat anticipated what was coming.

MAJOR SPOILERS...

The spring water is below the property our ancient and perhaps even evil? It grants wishes, but at a price. There must be a human sacrifice it's gone on for centuries if not thousands of years. And since it's helped the father, it's demanding a price. Luckily the mother finds out. But is it too late? That I am not going to tell. If you really want to know, that can all be found in the synopsis below!

SYNOPSIS:

Warning: The following is a complete synopsis of the movie. It's nothing but spoilers. Read at your own risk!

In 1992, a young girl, Rebecca Summers, goes out to her family pool one night to retrieve a toy boat belonging to her terminally ill brother, Tommy. While she tries to get the boat, something in the pool pulls her underwater.

In the present day, the Waller family—Ray, Eve, and children Izzy and Elliot—are seeking a new, permanent residence after Ray has been forced to retire from his baseball career due to illness. They decide to purchase a house with a swimming pool in the backyard, especially after hearing that the pool would be good for Ray’s condition. Ray scratches his hand while working to clear out the pool in the back yard. When the pool maintenance come to inspect it, they reveal that the pool is essentially self-sustaining, taking its water from an underground spring in the area.

As he spends more time in the pool as part of his therapy, Ray's illness seems to go into remission. However, Eve becomes concerned at the changes she sees in her husband. Izzy and Elliot each get attacked by something in the pool, and the family cat goes missing. During a pool party, their realtor, Kay, tells Eve about the previous owners' daughter Rebecca Summers drowning in the pool shortly before Ray seemingly forces a child underwater and almost drowns himself, although this is attributed to a side-effect of his illness.

Tracking down the Summers family after learning that there is a long history of disappearances in the house, Eve meets with Lucy, Rebecca's mother. Lucy explains that the water that now sustains the pool was once part of a healing spring, but in order to use the water someone else must be sacrificed to it; Lucy was compelled to sacrifice Rebecca to the pool’s demonic entity to heal Tommy's illness. Eve is horrified to realize that Ray is now being healed by the pool but it will take one of the children as a sacrifice.

Eve returns to the house to find that Ray is being directly controlled by the demon, which traps Elliot in the pool and attempts to kill Izzy. Eve tries to save her son while Izzy confronts the demon possessing her father, eventually assaulting him with a baseball bat. Eve manages to retrieve an unconscious Elliot, and is guided to the surface of the pool by Rebecca's spirit. Once back in the yard, Izzy's assault and Elliot's condition help Ray regain control of himself. To stop the demon from attacking his children, Ray sacrifices himself to it.

Deciding to remain in the house so that no one else falls victim to the demon, Eve, Izzy and Elliot make arrangements for the pool to be filled in to stop such a thing happening again.