@Photo by Courtesy of Universal Pictures
A change in environment doesn’t always wash away people’s insecurities and regrets – it can often instead just bring them to the surface. The story in the new supernatural horror film, Night Swim, thrives on its characters contending with credible motivations and temptations.
Their harrowing emotions are exasperated when they move into a new home that reflects on and amplifies their struggles. The growing conflict between the protagonists are driven by them in part losing their sense of identity, and their desire to do whatever ti takes to get it back, even if it’s detrimental to their well-being.
Bryce McGuire wrote and directed the thriller. The feature is based on the acclaimed 2014 short film of the same name he helmed, and also co-penned with Rod Blackhurst.
The new feature was produced by James Wan and Jason Blum through the latter’s production company, Blumhouse Productions, as well as Atomic Monster. Night Swim marks the studios’ first title following their recent merger, after they previously worked together on last year’s hit sci-fi horror movie, M3GAN.
@Photo by Courtesy of Universal Pictures
In Night Swim, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), a former third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers who was forced into early retirement after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Struggling with his new illness, which is impacting him both physically and mentally, he agrees to try to start a new life with his family.
After Ray’s concerned wife Eve (Oscar nominee Kerry Condon) accepts a new job as an administrator at a middle school in the Minneapolis suburbs, they decide to move for the last time. They finally settle down when they buy a seemingly perfect home that’s being sold for a surprisingly low rate.
But Ray and Eve are unaware that the selling price is so low because of the house’s long, haunting history when they move in. The film’s prologue, which is set in 1992, follows a little girl as she attempts to retrieve her brother’s toy boat from their swimming pool. Unfortunately, she instead meets a haunting demise.
When his family moves in, Ray is secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to professional baseball. So he proclaims his wife that the new home and its swimming pool will be good for everyone in order to please her. He feels the pool in particular will provide physical therapy for him and be fun for their two children to bond with each other and connect with their new classmates.
The couple’s children – outgoing and popular teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and more isolated and shy pre-teen son Elliot (Gavin Warren), – do finally seem to bond as they settle into their new home and enjoy the pool. Ray is also experiencing surprising improvements in his health that his doctors can’t explain.
Despite the family’s seemingly improved luck, the house’s dark secrets and past unleash a malevolent force that will drag them under. As a result, they must fight the depths of inescapable terror.
McGuire turned his short into a mysterious and evocative horror feature that’s driven by emotionally resonant themes, despite its supernatural undertones. The Wallers hope their new home will offer a safe haven for them as Ray transitions away from public life to contend with his illness. However, their struggles are instead amplified when they must not only admit the house is haunted by the supernatural, but also learn how to fight another form of demon.
The drama truly thrives by utilizing horror elements that are driven by, and exasperate, the characters’ insecurities. The actors infuse their characters with sincere emotions that highlight their deepest fears, especially those they don’t feel completely comfortable sharing with their relatives.
Russell gives a standout performance as Ray, who’s having the most trouble adjusting to his family’s new way of life, despite his claims to the contrary and determination to hide it. The Waller family patriarch is trying to contend with his new physical limitations and accept that his career playing professional baseball is over. However, Ray’s sincerity over starting a new life is overcome by menace once he begins swimming in his family’s new pool.
Russell truly connected to his character’s despair as the actor is a former professional hockey player. After suffering a series of career-ending injuries, he made the difficult decision to retire from being an athlete, and pivoted to acting as a full-time career.
As a result, Russell infused his character with a believably when he tells his wife that he’s content to focus on his health and supporting her career. However, Ray internally struggles with depression, and constantly questions his new identity and purpose. Ray’s desire to regain his strength and health is so strong, it often overtakes his inclinations to redefine his relationships with his wife and their children.
@Photo by Courtesy of Universal Pictures
As a result, through his character, the athlete-turned-actor personified the evil that was lurking around the Wallers’ home, and became the film’s pseudo-antagonist. As the pool’s mystical water begins to help Ray heal, he mysteriously begins to physically feel in better health. The water’s power slowly takes possession of him and drives his obsession to return to his former professional glory, regardless of what harm he has to unleash on his family to do so.
Russell also excels in the playful banter and one-liners that are destined to become instantly quotable with his family and the other people in his life. That spirited dialogue, which offers much-needed comic relief amongst the lingering and new tensions within the family, amps up the performances from the other actors, particularly Hoeferle.
As Izzy, the actress is reminiscent of fellow up-and-coming scream queen, Kathryn Newton, who’s in part known for her work on such genre movis as Freaky and Paranormal Activity 4. Like her fellow actress, Hoeferle infused her young horror character with a fierce independent streak. Now that her family is finally settling, she’s looking forward to a leading normal, stable adolescence, and won’t let anything – even a supernatural force – stop her from doing so.
With the water being so detrimental to the Wallers’ mental and physical health, as well as their relationships, the pool is a towering physical and emotional force within the thriller. To capture the pool’s menacing nature in the family’s new backyard, McGuire secured the perfect location – a home in Altadena, California that had a big pool with a lot of space around it.
As a result, whenever one of the family members where in the water alone, especially at night, they seem as though they’re on an island surrounded by darkness. That darkness crafted interesting silhouettes that were captured by genre veteran director of photography, Charlie Sarroff (Smile, Relic).
McGuire and Sarroff infused Night Swim with another sense of authenticity when it came to capturing the Wallers swimming in the pool. The filmmakers didn’t rely on computer animation to generate a simulation of water; instead, they used older, wider lenses to make the pool seem as terrifyingly vast when the family delves into the supernatural.
While its overall story is somewhat formulaic, the Wallers family’s characterizations throughout Night Swim are compelling and emotionally resonate. The drama’s themes have depth, particularly when they explore how Ray, Eve and their children are contending with the effects of the patriarch’s forced retirement and autoimmune disease.
Russell enthrallingly encapsulates his pseudo-antagonist’s struggle to no longer having the public glory of his famed athletic career, and instead focus on rebuilding his relationships with his family. He contemplates the lengths he will go to return to a life that’s no longer tenable, and how the pool’s menacing nature will help him regain his former glory.
The stellar performances from Russell, Hoeferle and their co-stars are supported by the equally compelling and disorienting framework of Sarroff’s cinematography. The fear and tension shown within the characters’ relationships and growth throughout Night Swim‘s plotline prove that not all demons – both figurative and literal – can be washed away.
Grade: B
Night Swim is now playing in theaters, courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Check out more of Karen Benardello’s articles.
Here’s the trailer of the film.