Having a year packed with exciting new horror movies, made by incredible directors and featuring fantastic actors, there’s bound to be at least one that isn’t up to everyone’s standards, and that movie is “Night Swim.” Released on Jan. 5, “Night Swim” features a family moving into a new house with a pool in the backyard. After swimming in the pool, the father’s mysterious disease is cured. 

Throughout the movie we find out the history of the house, and what might be causing the happenings around the new house.

However, the movie falls short in several places, from the poor writing to the abysmal plot. The writing can be extremely bad at points, having characters say things that don’t make sense, or just things that a normal person would not say, but the writing isn’t the only problem.

The plot is very poorly written, including a lot of tropes that are featured in other movies, but “Night Swim” does not pull them off. One of these tropes is the whole reason these strange things are happening around the house. We learn that the house is haunted, and the entity then possesses the father and mischief ensues.

Another weakness of the movie is its scares, since there’s no gore and little to no violence in the movie, it relies on jumpscares to make the audience feel fear, but it falls flat in its attempt. Having a setting such as a haunted pool, you could do a lot with that, lean into the hydrophobia aspect of it, but instead they rely on jumpscares, which many consider a cheap way of scaring the audience.

The film suffers from having a PG-13 rating, showing no gore, blood and little to no violence. Having an R rating could’ve saved this movie, giving it a way to shock the audience, utilizing such a rating and the setting of a haunted pool to its advantage. Overall, the movie is mediocre at best, and terribly boring at worst. If you’re a fan of horror, I wouldn’t recommend this movie, as it is a weak entry into the horror genre.