January 5, 2024
Night Swim is a 2024 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Bryce McGuire (in his feature directorial debut), and based on the 2014 short film of the same name by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst. Starring Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon, it follows a suburban family who discover that their backyard swimming pool is haunted by a malevolent entity.
Jason Blum and James Wan produced the film under their Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster banners respectively, and this marks the first film from the two companies to be released following their merger on January 2, 2024.
Night Swim was released in the United States by Universal Pictures on January 5, 2024. The film received negative reviews from critics and grossed over $54 million worldwide.
Storyline
In 1992, a young girl, Rebecca Summers, goes out to her family pool one night to retrieve a toy boat belonging to Rebecca's terminally ill brother, Tommy. While Rebecca tries to get the boat, something in the pool pulls Rebecca underwater.
In the present day, the Waller family—Ray, Eve, and 14-15 year old Izzy and 11 year old Elliot—are seeking a new, permanent residence after Ray has been forced to retire from his baseball career due to multiple sclerosis. The Waller family decide to purchase a house with a swimming pool in the backyard, especially after hearing that the pool would be good for Ray's condition. Ray scratches his hand while working to clear out the pool in the back yard. When the pool maintenance personnel come to inspect the pool, the pool maintenance personnel reveal that the pool is essentially self-sustaining, taking its water from an underground spring in the area.
The family cat, Cider, goes missing. As Ray spends more time in the pool as part of his therapy, Ray's illness seems to go into remission. However, Eve becomes concerned at the changes she sees in Ray. Izzy and Elliot each get attacked by something in the pool separately. During a pool party, the realtor, Kay, tells Eve about the previous owners' daughter Rebecca Summers drowning in the pool shortly before Ray seemingly forces a child underwater and almost drowns himself. Eve thinks this tragic event is attributed to a side-effect of Rays's illness, but the actual reason is the pool. Eve decides to leave the house but as the Waller family try to leave the house, Ray's condition gets worse.
With Kay's help, Eve tracks down the Summers family after finding that there was a long history of disappearances in the house. Eve meets with Lucy, Rebecca's mother. Lucy explains that the water that now sustains the pool was once part of an ancient pagan healing spring guarded by a malevolent fairy-like entity. Lucy also explains that in order to benefit from the water's healing properties, someone else must be sacrificed to the spring's guardian. Lucy was compelled to sacrifice Rebecca to the entity to heal Tommy's illness. Eve is horrified to realize that Ray is now being healed by the pool but its guardian will take one of the children as a sacrifice.
Eve returns to the house to find that Ray is being directly controlled by the entity, which traps Elliot in the pool and attempts to kill Izzy. Eve tries to save Elliot while Izzy confronts the entity controlling Ray. Eve manages to retrieve an unconscious Elliot, and is guided to the surface of the pool by Rebecca's spirit. Izzy hits Ray with a baseball bat and Ray regains control of himself. As Ray is freed from the Entity, Elliot is possessed. To stop the entity from attacking his children, Ray sacrifices himself and the entity vanishes.
Deciding to remain in the house so that no one else falls victim to the entity, Eve, Izzy and Elliot make arrangements for the pool to be filled in, to stop such a thing ever happening again.
Movie Trailer
- Night Swim (2024) (Trailers)