Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) is a Major League Baseball player not quite ready to give up on the game despite his recent diagnosis of MS. So when the new home he purchases with his wife and children has a pool built on a natural water source he sees it as an opportunity to engage in hydrotherapy and wishes for one more chance at the big leagues. 

After moving in and undertaking his new regime of water exercise Ray starts to get better. Conversely his son Elliott (Gavin Warren), daughter Izzy (Amelie Hoeferle) and wife Eve (Kerry Condon) begin to have spooky experiences in the pool. But whilst they become unsettled Ray becomes more and more focused on the importance of them staying put and reaping the benefits of the waters healing powers. 

What Night Swim excels at is its photography in and around water and its likeable and relatable lead characters in Ray and Eve. What it does not excel at is mustering a great deal of gripping or scary moments. Unfortunately that is quite integral to a horror film. 

One of the issues is that it seems pretty simple to resolve the issue of a haunted swimming pool. Do not go swimming. Writer/Director Bryce Maguire strives to get around this in lots of unique ways but never manages to dial the film above “creepy”. 

The storyline about Ray’s melancholy over losing control of his body and losing his career on the other hand is really intriguing. Wyatt Russell does a great job of imbuing his character with some very conflicted emotions on the subject. Whilst Kerry Condon does an equally good job of portraying Eve’s contradictory views on the situation. She clearly senses something is wrong but understands how much Baseball means to Ray. 

These interesting characters and portrayals of them are integral to keeping you interested as the film finally falters into a sequence that explains the pool’s history and goes for a big swing of an ending (yes, it features baseball so I had to phrase it like this!)

Without Russell and Condon I think Night Swim would sink without a trace. With them you might look past the fact that you are watching an only moderately creepy horror movie about a monkey paw hot spring turned swimming pool.