Night Swim Director Bryce McGuire Hopes You're Too Scared To Go In The Pool [Exclusive Interview]
In January of 2023, the name on everyone's lips was "M3GAN." This year, Blumhouse is trying to recapture that magic again with Bryce McGuire's "Night Swim," a horror film about a family that moves into a new home and discovers there is something seriously sinister in their backyard. Based on McGuire's short film of the same name, "Night Swim" stars Wyatt Russell and Academy Award-nominee Kerry Condon as two parents trying their best in the face of the patriarch's recent multiple sclerosis diagnosis, kids adjusting to a new school, and well, a haunted swimming pool.
Horror movies have long since tried to terrify audiences with bodies of water, but we're usually talking about giant oceans filled with aquatic monsters or apex predators looking for a human snack. For the most part, the biggest threat in a swimming pool is not being able to swim, a rogue retractable pool cover, getting disemboweled by a drain, being trapped inside an empty pool with a crocodile, a madman trying to drown you, or ... you know what? I lied. There are a lot of scary pool scenes in horror movies.
But it's not often that the pools themselves are the evil entity. Fortunately, "Night Swim" is here to make sure we all question whether or not we really want to take that midnight dip. I recently had the chance to interview McGuire to talk about evolving his short film into a feature film, how he figured out the story that would prevent it from becoming nothing more than jump scares in water, and why Wyatt Russell is such a great actor to direct in genre projects.
Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Evolving the Night Swim short film into a feature film
"Night Swim" got its start as a riveting short film with a lot of ambiguity. How did you approach the idea of, "Okay, time to stretch this out for an hour, 40 minutes"?
Well, it was basically, "Let's not do that approach. Let's not stretch it out for an hour and 40 minutes." [laughs] Let's first ask, "Does this want to be a feature? Is there actually a more story to tell here?" And if there's not, probably don't do it, frankly. Because I think, sometimes, you have adaptations that struggle, like, "Did that really need to be a feature?" And I'm just not interested in doing it if there's not enough there to grapple with — enough there, enough story, enough mythology, enough of a villain there to deal with. So that was the starting place. "Should we do this?" And then, for about three years, the answer was, "No."
After making a short film, people would always ask, "Is there a feature? Is there a feature?" I was like, "No, I just don't see it." And then I kind of had the realization of who this family was, what they were trying to overcome, and the dad's sickness and trying to restart their life and put down roots and start fresh and kind of what the pool could give and take from them. And I was like, "Okay. So it's not just 'Boo!' in the pool again and again and again and again. There's a bigger history of the pool. There's a bigger mythological component to what the pool can do, and there's also what it can do to you." You've seen it, so you know what I'm talking about.
Yes, absolutely.
But those three things were like — I don't think there's a good "Night Swim" [feature] without those ideas, personally. There's a movie, but it's not the movie I was super, super interested in making until I had those big ideas. So that was the challenge, which took about three years to find the right version and be a little bit patient in that. But then, once I had that, I was like, "Okay, that's a movie, that's a story." That's when I put the pitch together and took it out with the short film. James Wan saw it, and then we went from there.
The inspiration behind Wyatt Russell's character in Night Swim
That's such a wonderful story for so many. I think making short films can feel like, "If it doesn't become the David F. Sandberg story with 'Lights Out,' I guess this idea is dead now." But "Night Swim" came out 10 years ago and it's only now that you have this feature. Any advice for other short filmmakers?
If it's a good concept, then I would tell people: Be patient. Make sure you have the right version of it and trust that, if you find the right idea, the short's still going to matter. You know what I mean? That's not going to go away. As long as no one's made it in between that time, then trust that the interest will still be there and wait for the right idea.
Yeah, definitely. And this could have just been "Jump Scares in Water: The Movie," but "Night Swim" has so much more to say. When you were trying to find this story, was it an instance of just throwing a bunch of ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks? Or did the story come to you naturally?
Well, to be totally honest, and my friend has cleared me to mention his name to talk about it, but I was working on another project with a buddy of mine that I went to grad school with named Dan Myers, and he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Seeing that process with him and just thinking about that disease and just seeing how hard that was, I was like, "What would someone give to be healed of that or be free of that?" And I think, honestly, it was just that life happens to you. S*** happens. Life happens. There are things in your life that bring those thoughts to your mind.
I think my job as a writer is to be just open and sensitive to that and listen to what life gives you and let life inform, because that's going to be the best idea anyway — something that comes from your life, from reality, you have an emotional connection to. And by the way, Dan's good and he worked on "Night Swim." He was an assistant editor, so he got to come full circle in that journey and be part, which is so special for me.
On making sure Night Swim was scary and fun
I love that. I can only speak from my own experience but I'm a cancer survivor and I had that thought pop in my head as I was watching like, "Would I willingly go into the wishing well pool of death?" And I think that speaks to the story, in that I'm actually thinking about it, but I'm also ready to be scared. And then, of course, it's also still a very fun movie.
Yes, it is! I want people to feel that, too. It's got some heavy themes, but it is a fun and scary movie that I think the whole family will enjoy.
Totally. And I love that Blumhouse is now doing this sort of January horror movie that is very fun, but also has something really important to say. Let's keep this trend going for years and years.
Absolutely, let's keep it going, yes!
But you have these really fun moments, especially with Wyatt Russell, who, the friend that I saw it with, we both joked, "The pool turns him into wet Jack Torrance," and I love that. So how do you provide direction to find that tone for a performer?
Well, Wyatt and I were so locked in on that tone from the beginning, from the first conversation. I'd seen him in "Black Mirror," so I'd seen him just go psycho mode. I knew that he could do that really, really well. And he likes going crazy like that. That's just so in his wheelhouse. And I think, from there, there's a little bit of having fun with the absurdity of the premise, that it is fun. It's a haunted pool. That's fun. As much as we're talking about these crucibles of what would you do to be healthy and what would you give up to make ... all that's still there and all those can be true, but also when he's chasing her to the house and he's like, [sinister voice] "Marco..." Come on, you have to do that!
You're leaning into the gimmick. You have to!
You have to! And it's so fun! And my favorite moment from Wyatt in the whole movie is in the neurologist's office and then, getting the update on his progress with the MS. And he's like, "We're doing the water therapy like twice a day ... we have a pool." That big smile. It's like, that's my favorite part of the whole movie because the tone of it is so Wyatt and so perfect and he's playing the sinister, manic, and creepy. I just love where that sweet spot that falls in. He'll do anything, he'll try anything. He's completely fearless. So honestly, it was easy with Wyatt, because he's bringing so much of that into it. And he knows how to use his tools and who he is.
I love that you brought up that moment because that's where everything completely clicked in line with me, where I was like, "Oh, okay, I know what movie we're in now."
Yes, exactly.
Bryce McGuire hopes Night Swim scares you out of the pool
I did a little digging about when you made the short, and you mentioned being in Florida and being surrounded by water, but this feature is unmistakably Midwest, especially with the real estate agent saying, "I don't want to poop in your pudding." I was like, "Okay, I know this woman." So why the Midwest?
I didn't want it to be an explicitly coastal film. I wanted it to feel like anywhere in America and a version of the kind of nostalgic suburban collective memory that more people could relate to. I don't know where you're from but a lot of people that even end up here [in Los Angeles], they started somewhere else. They started in Ohio, they started in rural New Jersey, they started in wherever. So I just felt that I wanted it to be more universal, by being less SoCal and just something that an environment that felt more familiar to more people.
I thought it was perfect. I live Midwest trash. I will die Midwest trash. So it was a delight to see these characters that I feel like I know.
And we were painting palm trees out and doing everything because we shot it here. But I didn't want anything to get in the way of someone like you or myself seeing themselves or seeing their aunt or seeing whoever in those characters. So yeah, that's cool.
I have time for one last question so I gotta know: How guilty do you feel knowing that there are going to be people who are probably not going to want to go swimming in swimming pools and it's going to be your fault?
[laughs] I don't feel guilty at all! I'm thrilled. If even that's slightly true, beyond the fun question, I will be absolutely thrilled. Because am I mad at Steven Spielberg for ruining the ocean for me? Maybe, but also I'm not. Because I love that movie so much. And listen, the water's not safe. It's good to be afraid of the water. I'm doing a public service.
"Night Swim" is playing in theaters everywhere.