Movie: Night Swim
Production Company: Blumhouse Productions, Atomic Monster
Director: Bryce McGuire
Producers: Jason Blum
Scriptwriters: Bryce McGuire, Rod Blackhurst
Main Cast: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren
Release Date: 5th January 2024
Running Time: 98 minutes
Certificate: 15
Introduction: Blumhouse’s latest horror entry is a boringly cliche and by the numbers affair… and is not scary.
Synopsis: A family moves into a house that is home to an evil and haunted pool that begins to terrorize them.
Analysis: I find Blumhouse films to be a hit or miss. When they are on target, they produce films like ‘The Invisible Man’ and ‘Upgrade’. When they are not, they conjure up (pun intended) disappointments like, recently, ‘Five Night At Freddie’s and ‘The Exorcist: Believer’. I’m afraid to say that ‘Night Swim’ has missed the mark. I was really quite floored to see just how many horror film tropes this revisits and rehashes that boredom quickly started to pour (intended again) in, and how unashamed the film is about it too. We have YET ANOTHER film where a family moves into a haunted house or a property where someone has died, come on!? I let out an audible sigh (and a brief chuckle) as to just how conventional this was turning out and how it did not seem to care in the slightest.
As for the jumps and scares, this is, again, just another horror that is almost entirely reliant and dependent upon *quiet, quiet, boo!* moments. Despite being someone who doesn’t like horror all that much, I love watching those films that go for more than just that. I jumped once throughout it’s entire duration and was never properly scared. Granted, some moments were adequately creepy and orchestrated well, but that is about as far as it goes. One thing I do find annoying, but is also a rather unavoidable dilemma (since they do need to market and sell their film), is when the biggest jumps or scares are shown in the trailer.
Even though that scare may not affect me that much, not knowing what’s about to come is where all the fun is. I did not have that here, or with any film I saw last year, as they are all shown to you before and when it’s finally time to see the film, you already know what is coming. I do confidently believe that had I not seen some of these set pieces in any of these flicks, they would be so much more effective. I unfortunately do not see ‘Night Swim’ making much of an impact in any regard as you have just seen this all before in better films that you would rather be watching instead. Too conventional and too forgettable. Ironically, this film will probably sink without a trace.
In cinemas now.
Overall Rating: 4/10- Dissaspointing
Target Audience: 15+
Content Warning: strong horror
Recommendation: No
