‘Death is not what you think’
The Midnight Swim is a 2014 American POV drama-mystery and is the film directorial debut of Sarah Adina Smith. The movie stars Lindsay Burdge, Jennifer Lafleur, and Aleksa Palladino.
Plot:
When June’s (Lindsay Burdge) mother goes mysteriously missing after diving in Spirit Lake, she and her sisters are travel home to put her affairs in order. June, a mentally unstable documentary filmmaker, records the experience with her two half-sisters Annie (Jennifer Lafleur) and Isa (Aleksa Palladino). Their mother, an ecologist who was campaigning to preserve Spirit Lake, is gone but always present.
As they settle back into her house, Isa takes up with June’s ex-crush Josh (Ross Partridge) while several strange occurrences happen after they jokingly summon the ghost of a local legend. As the questions mount, the family begins to unravel and June finds herself drawn deeper into the true mystery of the lake…
Reviews:
“Is this a horror movie? Is this a movie about the relationships between sisters? Is this fantasy? The answer is all of the above. The Midnight Swim is one of those independent films that looks at life, the world, family, and everything else differently, and that’s a good thing.” Fangirl Confessions
“While it’s eventually revealed to be more of an existential exercise, which may tend to disappoint some since it’s cloaked in the entrails of genre, this is an intriguing debut that uses familiar tropes with a bit more innovation than other fare similarly dressed.” Ion Cinema
“The Midnight Swim – which was in no way touted as a horror film when I bought my ticket – manages to be scarier than many horror movies I’ve seen, because I was just so caught up in the atmosphere – and that even though nothing really big ever happens. But the film is also funny and warm and tragic and dramatic – it cannot be reduced to eeriness alone.” Kalafudra
Release:
The Midnight Swim had its world premiere on July 27, 2014, at the Fantasia Film Festival.
