The Big Picture

Night Swim taps into viewers’ fears of the unknown and what lies beneath the surface. The movie stars Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon as a family haunted by a malevolent spirit in their pool. The actors discuss the impact of horror movies on real life and why people love the genre’s psychological elements.

For fans of David Sandberg’s Lights Out, Blumhouse Productions is back with another feature based on a 2014 short film. Helmed and adapted by the creators of the original, Bryce McGuire and Rod Blackhurst, Night Swim taps into viewers’ fears of the unknown and what lies beneath the surface.

Starring Wyatt Russell and Oscar-nominated actress Kerry Condon, Night Swim is about a family looking for a fresh new start after their father, Ray Waller (Russell), a former major league baseball player, is forced into retirement due to an injury. Ray convinces his wife (Condon) that the move will be good for their family and is hoping to utilize the pool for physical therapy, but a malevolent spirit haunts the depths and won’t rest without dragging them down with it. In addition to Russell and Condon, Night Swim also stars Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Nancy Lenehan, and is co-produced by James Wan’s Atomic Monster and Jason Blum.

Ahead of the movie’s theatrical release, Collider’s Steve Weintraub sat down with Russell and Condon to talk about working in the genre and the horror community. The stars reveal which movies left a lasting impression on them, discuss why audiences love to be scared, and why the supernatural elements of movies like Night Swim and The Shining go beyond surface-level scares. Condon also shares why her upcoming series with Jon Watts, Skeleton Crew, will appeal to an audience that hasn’t been targeted by Star Wars before. Check it all out in the video above or you can read the full interview transcript below.

Night Swim Feature length version of the 2014 short film about a woman swimming in her pool at night terrorized by an evil spirit. Release Date January 5, 2024 Director Bryce McGuire Rating PG-13 Runtime 118 minutes Writers Rod Blackhurst , Bryce McGuire

COLLIDER: If someone has never seen anything you’ve done before, what is the first thing you’d like them watching and why?

KERRY CONDON: Holy crap. I suppose [The Banshees of Inisherin] just because it seemed to hit. A lot of people seem to like it.

It was kind of good.

CONDON: I guess I’d pick that one, or Luck. I did a job with Michael Mann where I played a jockey, and I was with Nick Nolte.

KURT RUSSELL: Oh, I love that show.

CONDON: Every actor was incredible, the camera department is incredible. Loved it.

RUSSELL: I’d say Dud [in Lodge 49] because I’d say that’s closest to my heart.

CONDON: I’m gonna watch it.

RUSSELL: Don’t fall asleep. [Laughs]

Which Movies Left Their Mark on the ‘Night Swim’ Stars
Image via 20th Century Studios

One of the things about horror movies is they can really impact the way you are in real life. For example, when I saw Poltergeist as a kid, I refused to look under my bed. So I’m curious, what films did you possibly see at a young age that actually impacted you in real life?

CONDON: Do you remember, there was a movie, it was called Small Sacrifices? Farrah Fawcett played a real life killer, Diane Downs. I know the whole movie, practically. She murdered three of her kids because this boyfriend didn’t want to be a father — she’s a real woman, and Farrah Fawcett played her — and one of the kids survived in real life and testified, like, “Yeah, my mom shot us.” That totally stayed with me, that movie, because I was very young when I watched it. There’s a song in it that Diane Downs played in the car when she was shooting the kids.

RUSSELL: Sounds like a laugher.

CONDON: I mean, I wasn’t scared my mother was going to shoot me, but that a woman could kill her children, like, humanity.

Oh, 100%.

CONDON: So I remember that was scary. Sleeping with the Enemy was another one that was kind of scary.

Julia Roberts.

RUSSELL: Yeah, that was a good movie.

CONDON: See, these movies back in the ‘80s/’90s, that’s what I feel like Night Swim is like.

RUSSELL: Like Good Burger.

CONDON: What? No! [Laughs]

RUSSELL: [Laughs] Good Burger was a film. They’re making a Good Burger 2, actually.

It’s out right now.

CONDON: Is it scary?

RUSSELL: It is not scary. It’s so bad it’s good.

It’s more of a comedy.

RUSSELL: It’s a ridiculous movie.

CONDON: Well, how did it scare you?

RUSSELL: It wasn’t scary. Abe Vigoda was poisoned They poisoned the sauce. [Laughs] I remember I was sick at home and there was DirecTV and I bought Good Burger. I was nine. It’s the dumbest movie you’ve ever seen, but I loved it when I was nine-years-old. It was perfect for me.

CONDON: Cute.

One of the things about Night Swim is, it reminds me why I will not go in the ocean or in a pool, because you never know what’s down there, let’s be honest. Movies have corrupted me. I don’t know how I connected to this, but what day of the shoot were you like, “No more water?”

RUSSELL: Day one.

CONDON: I still love swimming, so I can’t say that it affected me at all. I love water. I love being in the pool, but filming in water, it’s totally different than being in water. So I think if I was to film in water again, I would ask that we do that at the beginning of the shoot as opposed to the end of the shoot.

RUSSELL: Yeah, it was about day three for me of the water stuff where I was like, “I’m good.” I got sick, the producers were awesome and warmed the water up, and it was 98 degrees. It was balmy.

CONDON: I felt it was unhygienic at that temperature, quite frankly. [Laughs]

RUSSELL: It was a rough go for me for the rest of the shoot. But yeah, I’d say day three.

I ask this of everyone I speak to when they’re involved in a scary movie or a horror movie; what do you think it is about the genre that people love watching them and love being scared?

CONDON: We were talking about this earlier. My theory is it’s just, like, you feel alive. So, any extreme emotion makes you feel alive, like roller coaster rides, things like that, or adrenaline junkies, people who love doing crazy kinds of things. It’s a similar thing of that. And then I suppose it’s probably a community, too. I imagine a lot of horror people talk about different horror things and criticize different horror things. It’s probably a community that feels good to be a part of. People like being a part of a group.

RUSSELL: For me, I think that the psychological element is like, this thing can’t hurt me, it can’t physically do harm to me, but I can experience this terrifying, supernatural element of whatever it is that I’m watching for that contained amount of time and then go back to the safety of my home. That part of it, I think, is what makes the best horror films. I’m not a big fan of slasher movies that just slash, like it could happen to anybody. I don’t love them. But when they’re like The Shining and all these great horror movies that get referenced ad nauseam, they’re great because there’s an existential crisis happening somewhere, and it’s always set against a great backdrop that usually has to deal with some kind of supernatural element, even if it’s in someone’s head, or if it’s their swimming pool, or if it’s their haunted house. Things that we don’t necessarily experience in everyday life, that’s fun to just get a snippet of and get that, like Kerry said, that little jolt.

I have an individual question for you. I am very excited for Skeleton Crew because it’s Jon Watts. He’s such a talented director. Could you talk a little bit about the role and what you’re excited for people to see?

CONDON: Oh gosh, I’ll be strangled if I talk about the role, don’t you know? What am I excited for people to see? Oh Jesus, I feel like I’m walking a tightrope. You know what these people are like. The four leads are so great, and they’re very young and they’re really great and they’re adorable to be around, so that would be the first thing. And also, it’s for an age group that’s a really cute age group of children. It will appeal to an age group of children that I’m not sure has been targeted before.

Night Swim is in theaters in the U.S. on January 5.

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