The Divisive Horror Film Stephen King Compares to a “Lost, low-budget Steven Spielberg film” Is Streaming Now
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Truer words than that have never been spoken. We each consume media and connect with it based on our personal preferences, frame of mind at the time of viewing, and various other factors. A film you see endless merit in might not land for me, and vice versa. So much of the cinematic experience is subjective.
Subjectivity sometimes helps people see the good in a movie that didn’t land for most. Perhaps a specific element of a film really resonates and outshines the aspects that are admittedly less effective. This happens to the best of us. Even Stephen King. In fact, a widely maligned film that the author enthusiastically connected with just landed on Paramount+!
More specifically, I’m talking about Bryce McGuire’s Night Swim.
King previously posted to Twitter about his appreciation for the flick, saying: “I loved The Night Swim (Amazon Prime). It’s like a lost, low-budget Steven Spielberg film from Spielberg’s early period…say, after Duel but before Jaws. Simple story, but…the cat on the diving board! And those creepy bunny slippers!”
What’s the setup for Night Swim?
Forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, former baseball player Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) moves into a new house with his wife (Kerry Condon) and two children (Amélie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren). He hopes that the backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for himself. However, a dark secret from the home’s past soon unleashes a malevolent force that drags the family into the depths of inescapable terror.
As you can see from the social media post above, King connected with some of the film’s quirks, which likely helped to outshine some of the less effective aspects of this critically panned effort. If you’ve yet to see the flick and find yourself curious if you’ll be able to see past its flaws, make your way over to Paramount+ on or after August 10 to see where you stand.
That’s just about all of the haunted pool-related news I have for you at this juncture, dear reader. Make sure to stay tuned to the site in the very near future for more updates on what’s coming to the streaming space. If you need more of my nonsense in your periphery between now and then, you can always find me on Threads. I am active on the platform as @FunWithHorror.
Categorized: News
