In Night Swim, Ray Waller (played by Falcon and the Winter Soldier/Monarch's Wyatt Russell), a former baseball player suffering from multiple sclerosis, and his family move into a new house with a pool, but it's not a regular pool, it's a scary supernatural murder pool.
I'm surprised that a pool has never been turned into a an average--object-turned-element-of-murder movie. Pools are kinda scary. People can drown, strike their heads on the cement parts/diving board, and there's something unknown/ominous about the gaps where the water flows through. This movie makes good use of the concept and does a diverse job of showing various ways in which this pool just ain't right. There's some fairly creepy imagery, including seeing things in the background that aren't in focus. However, the scares are diminishing returns; the best parts are earlier on.
The plot itself is decent but could've been improved upon. There are plenty of horror movie families, but you don't usually see one dealing with a family member with a disease, which adds a little more to the usual formula. You get a feel for the characters, especially the dad, but the script doesn't go for that extra mile in their characterization. Some scenes and dialogue are mixed in quality. (This was originally a short film and you can see some of the growing pains in fleshing the story out.) Cast is good, especially Russell, but there is one small role that really isn't working.
Special effects and makeup are fairly good, though there a couple moments that feel a little weak. This is one of those horror situations where the supernatural threats aren't as effective as when you clearly see them.
Recommended. Story is good but not great. What makes this work definitely is the scares.
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