NIGHT SWIM (2024)

January 4, 2024

Greetings again from the darkness. Over the years, there have been many movies reinforcing why we should “be afraid of going in the water.” This includes CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954), DEEP SEA BLUE (1999), OPEN WATER (2003), and of course, the all-time classic, JAWS (1975). Beyond the ocean, swimming pools always create a level of anxiety for parents, because most kids can’t imagine something that’s so much fun carrying any type of danger. Thanks to horror producers Jason Blum and James Wan, writer-director Bryce McGuire and co-writer Rob Blackhurst have expanded their 4-minute 2014 short film and try their darndest to make a backyard pool the source of supernatural evil.

Fresh off her Oscar nomination for THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (2022), Kerry Condon stars as Eve Waller, and Wyatt Russell (EVERYBODY WANTS SOME, 2016) co-stars as her husband Ray, whose major league baseball career has been cut short due to the early onset of a degenerative disease. The family finds a spacious home with a swimming pool in the backyard, and the kids, 15-year-old Izzy (Amelie Hoeferle, THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES) and her younger brother Elliot (Gavin Warren, “Fear the Walking Dead”) are thrilled to leave the gypsy life of baseball behind and finally settle down and make friends. As viewers, we know something the family doesn’t. The opening scene (expertly filmed) shows us a tragic event that occurred in this same pool a few years back. Nothing is given away, but it’s an ominous start featuring some fuzzy bunny slippers.

Once the Wallers move in, each of them have their own encounters while swimming. Eve, Izzy, and Elliot each get spooked, while Ray immediately begins to feel better and more energetic. Ben Sinclair (SPIN ME ROUND, 2022) adds a dose of humor as the pool servicer, while also informing the family that it’s a natural spring-fed pool. For some unknown reason, Sinclair’s character only gets one scene – a definite flaw in the filmmaking. The Wallers throw a neighborhood party and, no surprise, it goes sideways. From here, things get progressively worse (and sillier) as a supernatural entity or demon is clearly having its way with the family.

Cinematographer Charlie Sarroff (SMILE, 2022) does nice work with the pool, especially the underwater scenes at night … although the night isn’t the only time bad stuff happens. Other than the kinda funny idea that a swimming pool can possess evil, the film clunks along by touching on numerous ideas, some of which are creative, only to leave us hanging on most. The backstory of the house and swimming pool is investigated by Eve, and that alone could have injected a heavy dose of drama and creepiness. Instead, we get a couple of glimpses of a hokey looking presence … and we can’t help but wonder why this family keeps sticking their hands in every skimmer and drain opening – much less why they insist on swimming alone at night.

It feels like a pretty intense and more complete story is lurking just beneath the surface here … as there are some good ideas, as well as believable performances from Condon, Russell (who nails a couple of punchlines), Hoeferle, and Warren. Similarities to the horror classic POLTERGEIST (1982) are evident, and that’s a pretty lofty goal. Producers Jason Blum and James Wan have recently finalized the merger of their two production studios, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, so we can expect regular releases of horror films from the group. The expectation is there will be more hits than misses.

Opens nationwide in theaters on January 5, 2023

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Posted by David Ferguson

SPIN ME ROUND (2022)

March 22, 2022

SXSW 2022

Greetings again from the darkness. Expectations were sky high for the latest from writer-director Jeff Baena. His twisted humor was evident in THE LITTLE HOURS (2017), and he has collaborated again with his HORSE GIRL (2020) co-writer Alison Brie, who also takes the lead role. The assembled cast is filled to the brim with folks who have proven comedy chops, and much of the film takes place in gorgeous Italy. What could go wrong? Well, technically nothing goes wrong, it’s just not as right as we hoped.

Alison Brie stars as Amber, a dedicated 9-year manager of the Bakersfield, California Tuscan Grove restaurant. It’s a chain of Italian fast casual clearly meant to mock Olive Garden, and we get multiple shots of their pre-packaged bulk Alfredo sauce. When Amber’s District Manager (Lil Rey Henry) informs her that she’s been selected for an all-expense paid trip to Italy for the company’s immersion program, she’s thrilled to have some excitement in her life – plus her friend (Ego Nwodim) floats the idea of her finding love on the trip.

The group of managers is disappointed when the promised Italian villa is actually next door to the non-descript box motel where their rooms are located (Amber has a view of dumpsters). Sessions are held in a bland conference room, and those sessions are mostly unnecessary cooking lessons run by Lauren Weedman, offering no flavor of the country’s culture. The fun here is derived from the interplay between the characters/actors. Zach Woods plays Dana, an over-the-top superfan of Tuscan Grove and its owner; Tim Heidecker is Fran, the full-of-himself type; Ayden Mayeri is the giggly one; Debby Ryan the aloof participant; and Molly Shannon frets incessantly over her lost luggage and erases all boundaries once Amber offers to lend her some clothes. The facilitator of the sessions is oddball Craig (Ben Sinclair), who excels in moments that beg, “was that supposed to be funny?”

The dynamics change when Tuscan Grove owner Nick (Alessandro Nivola) drops in to the sessions with his assistant Kat (Aubrey Plaza, married to director Jeff Baena). Nick takes an immediate shine to Amber and their scene aboard his yacht is one of the film’s best. His attraction seems to stem from the fact that she favors his deceased sister. That’s wrong on so many levels. Beyond that, when Amber and Kat take off for a spin through the town, it’s another highlight, as Ms. Plaza and Ms. Brie play off each other magnificently.

There is a creepy element to the film. The manager’s retreat plays out differently than hoped, and the names Dana and Fran play a significant role in what is actually going on. Nick’s actions are a bit disturbing, and Kat’s role could easily be interpreted as falling into the Ghislaine Maxwell category. And then there is a tonal shift to the point where it seems we may be in the midst of a murder mystery. It’s all a bit chaotic, but never quite as funny or tense as we hope.

Ms. Brie has a wonderful screen presence as she bounces from naïve to hopeful to confused to concerned. Mr. Nivola is also terrific flashing the charisma in TV ads and then transitioning to the soulful, manipulative, entitled rich scumbag. The contrast in the story is as distinct as the two books mentioned, Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love”, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “News of a Kidnapping”. Few movies combine the blandness of Bakersfield, the romance of Italy, near slapstick comedy, the suspense of a thriller, the lameness of corporate America, a kinky sex party, and a pack of stampeding wild boars. It’s a lot to take on, and some parts work better than others. While we expected it to be more clever, just know going in that you should be like Amber – guarded with an open-mind.

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Posted by David Ferguson