NIGHT SWIM
Starring: Kerry Condon, Wyatt Russell, Amélie Hoeferle, Nancy Lenehan, Gavin Warren, Jodi Long, Eddie Martinez, Elijah Roberts, and Ayazhan Dalabayeva
Director: Bryce McGuire
NICK
Although the Night Swim trailer didn’t inspire confidence, I went into it with an open mind. I wasn’t expecting much, just a fun bit of spooky storytelling to waste 98 minutes on. What I got, however, was neither fun nor spooky. It’s been a while since a film has irked me as much as this one due to its gaps in logic (both big and small) and its inability to create any tension whatsoever. Aside from myself and my audience getting some laughs at the expense of the film, the only thing Night Swim made me feel was bored. A legitimate early contender for Worst of 2024.
CALEB
I was hoping Night Swim would be another 'fun-bad' horror movie like M3GAN (2023). Unfortunately, it isn’t fun at all, but it certainly is bad. For a story about a haunted swimming pool, the script takes itself far too seriously. The result is a maddeningly dull horror flick, devoid of any interesting concepts or exciting sequences. The effects are mediocre, the cinematography is flat, and the blatant lack of style is borderline insulting. Maybe if it took a few risks, it could’ve been fun, but Night Swim seems content playing in the shallow end where it’s safe… and boring.
PRESTON
Watching Night Swim can be equated to something excruciatingly mundane…going to the grocery store, perhaps? There are some moments of complete absurdity and mild perturbances, but it’s otherwise filled with the most unremarkable circumstances. I don’t know what it is about Blumhouse Productions’ films that make them solidly entertaining OR a complete trashcan fire, but this most recent release definitely falls into the latter category. If you are a fan of B-horror movies (even when they aren’t intentionally that way), you might get a kick out of watching when it hits streaming, but for everyone else…be forewarned.
KATIE
My expectations for Night Swim were not high, but I was hoping for some trashy, so-bad-its-good fun. Unfortunately, instead of leaning into the absurdity of the premise, it takes itself far too seriously, and is dull as a result. It is simply not scary in the slightest, struggling to maintain any sense of tension, and despite its relatively short run-time, it still feels too long, especially as the final act is drowning in clumsy exposition. The only redeeming aspect of the film is Kerry Condon, who gives the best performance she can in spite of the script and ridiculous plot.
