Night Swim is released on Digital on March 12, 2024, and Blu-ray + DVD + Digital on April 9. The Collector’s Edition disc comes with a slew of extras.
Blurb:
“From James Wan’s Atomic Monster (The Conjuring franchise, Insidious franchise) and Blumhouse (The Black Phone, Halloween franchise) comes NIGHT SWIM, available to own with brand-new bonus content on Digital March 12, 2024 and on Blu-ray and DVD April 9, 2024 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. NIGHT SWIM has been hailed as “a satisfying plunge into backyard terror” (Joshua Rothkopf, LA Times) and “remarkably effective” (Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times). Now own the Collector’s Edition, with all-new bonus features, including a behind-the-scenes look at filming the underwater pool sequences, transforming ‘Marco Polo’ into an eerie game of terror, and more.
The producers of M3GAN high dive into the deep end of supernatural horror with NIGHT SWIM. Wyatt Russell stars as a former major league baseball player, forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his wife (Oscar® nominee Kerry Condon) and their two children. The new home comes complete with a backyard swimming pool, but a deep secret surfaces and unleashes a malevolent force that will drag the family into the inescapable depths of terror.
Night Swim is directed by Bryce McGuire (Writer/Director of Original Short) and stars Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin, “Better Call Saul”), Wyatt Russell (Everybody Wants Some!!, Overlord), Amelie Hoeferle (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Gavin Warren (The Unbreakable Boy, “Fear of the Walking Dead”) and Jodi Long (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Hot Chick).
Bonus disc features:
MASTERS OF FEAR – Horror legends Jason Blum and James Wan discuss why they chose to collaborate on this project, what drew them to this story and why first-time director, Bryce McGuire, was the perfect man for the job.
DEMONS FROM THE DEPTHS – Dive into the world of special effects and learn how the creatures in NIGHT SWIM were created to withstand the trials of filming underwater.
INTO THE DEEP – Go beneath the surface and hear from cast and crew on the physical and technical work that went into creating a movie that contains so many underwater sequences.
MARCO POLO – Director Bryce McGuire breaks down the pivotal scare scene and how the film took a simple children’s game and turned it into a nightmare.
FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR BRYCE MCGUIRE”
Order the Blu-ray + DVD + Digital from Amazon.com
Meanwhile, here’s our extensive previous coverage of the movie:
‘Everything you fear is under the surface’
Night Swim is a 2024 American horror film about a young woman who is terrorised by an evil presence whilst swimming in a pool at night. The movie is a feature-length adaptation of the four-minute 2014 short film of the same name (which can be watched below).
Written and directed by Bryce McGuire based on a storyline co-written with Rod Blackhurst. Produced by Jason Blum, James Moran and James Wan. Executive produced by Rod Blackhurst, Michael Clear, Judson Scott and Ryan Turek.
The Atomic Monster-Blumhouse-Universal Pictures co-production stars Kerry Condon, Wyatt Russell, Nancy Lenehan, Ben Sinclair, Jodi Long, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Eddie Martinez, Preston Galli, Ellie Araiza, Aivan Uttapa, Eleanor T. Threatt and Elijah J. Roberts.
Plot:
Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), a former major league baseball player is forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness. He moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Kerry Condon), teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and young son Elliot (Gavin Warren).
Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for him. However, a dark secret in the home’s past unleashes a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror…
Reviews:
” …it’s yet another in a streak of Blumhouse projects failing to bring anything new to the horror genre. Formulaic, lacking in scares, but accessible to as wide an audience as possible with a PG-13 rating; this is the horror house’s new MO, and unfortunately, it’s working moneywise […] It’s a film that could have gone to new depths and explored a universal irrational fear with nuance but instead decided to stay in the safety of the kiddies’ pool.” 3 out of 10, Collider
“The essential problem with Night Swim is that no matter how McGuire might try (and credit to his ability as director, he really does put in the effort), the pool is never the terrifying setting it needs to be and the elements that prevent the family from leaving the house or just not getting into the damn pool become as strained as our interest. The rushed last act, with rules that are invented from scene to scene, is tiresomely incoherent, crescendoing with a ludicrous emotional play, imagining an investment in ciphers we simply don’t have…” ★★★ The Guardian
“Night Swim has the potential for a promising and fresh premise despite weak characterization and execution […] From any angle, this film feels lacking. We cannot handle the execution of the climax, which should trigger a touching dramatic side due to the weak chemistry. The horror side is the same; Night Swim didn’t feel scary, even though I was the only one in the theatre.” Montase Film [translated from Indonesian]
” …its utterly conventional script strands some fine performances (including those by Amélie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren as the kids) and proficient horror filmmaking. And while this one doesn’t meet the low bar of pool-set movies like 12 Feet Under and 2001’s Prague-shot The Pool, as far as haunted pool movies go it’s gotta be at the top of the list.” 1.5 out of 4, The Prague Reporter
“Creating a claustrophobic feeling is a tried and tested concept in underwater scenes – everyone knows how terrible it is to have to hold your breath for too long – but not much is done with it. There’s not much to say about a movie like Night Swim. It is what it is and doesn’t do it particularly well, but not particularly badly either. ” ★★ Film Totaal [translated from Dutch]
” …it’s a family horror movie, and this is one case where you really feel the PG-13-ness of it all. The writer-director, Bryce McGuire, isn’t incompetent, but each time he draws upon a thriller like Ringu, you’re aware of how mild the shocks are. Despite the swimming pool-from-hell premise, we never feel immersed in the movie’s terror.” Variety
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