Does this January film sink or swim?
2024 is here! January has a track record of hosting hidden gems or huge lumps of coal. Will ‘Night Swim’ rise above the rest or will this movie sink to depths of forgettable January flicks?
Let’s find out!
When I first saw the trailer to this last year, I was very excited. I actually thought this was some reboot of Creature of the Black Lagoon. That turned out to not be the case.
The plot revolves around a family that buys a house and finds themselves in a “The Ring” situation, but instead of crusty bootlegs from Blockbuster, this time the scares come from the deep end. Despite how intriguing the premises may sound, the movie’s pacing and reluctance to show its big bad means this movie never makes it out of the shallow end of the pool.
The opening sequence was good. It felt both chilling and suspenseful, and it definitely had my attention. The Marco/Polo scene from the trailer was really well done, it felt erie and added some tension to the movie, but it just felt like the only highlight in the film.
The pacing, unfortunately, leaned towards the slower side, lacking enough scares or intrigue required for a compelling horror experience.
The movie did not delve into substantial themes, operating more as a straightforward horror flick. The ending, while fine, could have benefited from a final jump scare, particularly for enthusiasts of older horror movie tropes.
The film failed to evoke significant emotional responses, lacking the depth required to provoke strong reactions. The visual elements, including cinematography and the portrayal of the scary monster, left much to be desired.
Character development was minimal, with the dad (Played by Wyatt Russell) receiving the most attention, albeit without significant depth. The film’s concept was undoubtedly a strength, but its execution suffered from a scarcity of impactful scares.
Regrettably, “Night Swim” fails to rise to the occasion as it takes an interesting premise and doesn’t do much more to elevate it, other than what you’ve seen in movies before. With its lack of sufficient scares and moments of boredom, not only does this movie miss the mark on a less-than-thrilling experience, it is borderline disappointing when you see that the puzzle pieces of a good horror movie were present, but it just never connected.
When compared to movies like ‘The Ring’ or ‘Smile’ this movie just doesn’t hold a candle to either of them. Perhaps it was the budget, but a better guess would be the movie targeting the ever tricky ‘PG-13’ rating holding it back.
This was a good film…. That I already forgot!
“Night Swim” is a movie that, unfortunately, fails to leave a lasting impression. On a scale of 1-10, I give it 5 Creatures of the Wack Lagoon out of 10.
So what did you think of Night Swim, did you like it? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Did you even see it!?
For more news and movie reviews check out our thoughts on Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. For everything else, keep it locked on CPG!
