Someone’s Gotta Pay. Bryce McQuire ends up paying in his feature directory debut in Night Swim. Based off the 2014 short film of the same name, Night Swim plunges audiences into a hair-raising spine-twisting dive into the horrors of the water. In this case, a backyard pool. The film is led by Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren as the Waller family, and immediately dives viewers into the families relocation and rebirth of their family.
NIGHT SWIM – in theaters January 5
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The film starts off straight into the depths of the pool with the tragic, haunting death of a small Asian girl named Rebecca, who tries to retrieve a toy boat from her family’s pool. The “monster” that resides in the pool takes Rebecca down, and she vanishes for the rest of time.
Following the introductory scene, The Waller family is introduced and due to a career altering injury and diagnosis, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) has to put his MLB career in the past and focus on his health. The family moves into this new home, primarily due to the love of the pool and the physical therapy needed to help treat Ray’s MS diagnosis.
In a repetitive, and predictable pattern, each member of the family experiences the strangeness of the pool, at night. As expected, alone. It’s not until the daughter, Izzy Waller, is exposed to the depths of the water where she starts expressing her fear for the water. Each time the family members dive into the water, audiences are holding their breath at what’s next for the mastery in the pool.
Repulsed and wanting to find answers, Eve sets off to the previous owners and meets Mrs. Summers (Jodi Long), who tells the story of her young son and how he became so successful. When Eve mentions Rebecca, Mrs. Summers becomes eerie with answers and the nearby water fountain starts to tremble, black water streams out of everything liquid, including Mrs. Summers eyes. The phrase, “Someone’s gotta pay” is left with audiences as the climactic finish approaches.
The film culminates with an intensive battle between life and death, sacrifice and love, with the family’s ultimate decision on how to stop this spirit in the pool. Someone’s gotta pay to keep the spirit at bay, but the spirit will be back — and the whole cycle begins as new.
The thrill and the horror of the jump scares and mysterious eerie atmosphere sets the film into a thrilling swim, but the longevity of the family’s story falls apart near the end with a bitter and concerning end to the film. For the most part, the dive into McQuire’s strong debut as a director reaches audiences and establishes a good foundation for a potential sequel. Night Swim delights audiences with perfectly timed scares, intensive sound and music, and some unique camerawork to captivate the frights of the deep.
Aside from the last act disarray, Night Swim is an eerie dip into Bryce McQuire’s entrance into the deep end of filmmaking.
Night Swim is Rated PG-13 for terror, some violent content and language — and in theaters January 5th.
Ever since he was young, Matt was enamored and glued to anything Disney. From the movies, to Playhouse Disney, to frequent visits to Walt Disney World. Disney was Matt’s childhood. As he grew up, and his interests went from movie fandom, to park operations fandom, his desire for spread to Disney Parks and his urge to work for Disney. Since then, he has completed numerous Disney College Programs, and is currently a proud Cast Member at his favorite park, EPCOT, having been apart of the opening teams for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Creations Shop, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind’s Treasures of Xandar.
