40/15
A depiction of a house in the suburbs where a mysterious creature lives. Although it was well received at the Sundance Film Festival, some viewers were turned off by its intensity. One person said, “I can’t handle this stress so late at night.” Link to Amanda Jedi Show: NIGHT SWIMMING is trash | Explained (2024). I saw it in 2024 at the Ghent Film Festival. I ordered this movie for two reasons: I’m a longtime horror fan and there are too many positive reviews. However, I am disappointed with everything. It’s a shame that we don’t get to know the main characters and their relationships from the beginning. The first tour of the house with the real estate agent who opens the story reveals nothing informative, misses a unique opportunity to inform us about the family and the house they intend to buy. The later arrival of the construction crew with two fellow painters, one of whom refuses to enter one of the rooms, is the first sign that something strange is brewing, but on the other hand, we only hear and know nothing about his thinking. Later, when the family settles into a new home, the son’s friend appears, but is also not introduced properly, but later becomes important. As a seasoned horror watcher, I recognize some poor attempts to convince us that something terrible exists inside. house, but upon arrival everything falls apart. As well as many moments where the camera goes up and down the stairs at high speed with no relation to the story. The tour of the house that the camera shows us before anyone is there (the estate agent has yet to arrive) is a nice trick, a very quick look at all the angles, rooms and exteriors on steroids, but no. it’s beyond beautiful, I found just one moment that could send certain cold signals through my spinal cord. This happens in one of the last scenes in front of a large mirror (an original piece of wood, one century old, we learn from the real estate agent). Other creepy moments, if there were any, are completely gone for me. It may come as a shock that a wardrobe shelf collapses just as a couple is making love on a bed in the same room, causing a kind of fear. In a newly renovated house, we can expect this for completely natural reasons, such as the poor work of the construction team, as we have already encountered. In general, I don’t really care about four (family) and one (friend). son) of the main characters due to ignorance of their past, characters and their relationships. We are also left out of the equation where "presence" are worried. The new owners don’t seem to have anything to do with the ‘being’s’ past, so there is no revenge or related reasons to scare or annoy them. The story as it unfolds is not boring, and we were entertained by the unexpected events. But I was expecting more based on the reviews I’ve seen, which may just be my fault.