Autor: Carlos Mario Castro

Night Swim struggles to find a good reason to revisit the old conflict between Dreams and Family, with a compelling story about a family attempting to settle after the rise and fall of one of its members, and the consequences they must face if they want that success back into their lives. But if you did not really quite understand what was happening in the 98 minutes of haunting pools, broken baseballs, and holding breaths, here we are to explain Night Swim.

1 ^ What is Roy Waller’s condition?

The whole movie is about Roy Waller’s frustration for stopping a successful career in baseball, as a consequence of a irreversible health condition. But, what was Roy Waller’s condition?

The conversation between Roy and his doctor reveals he has some form of deterioration of the nerve fibers, consistent with multiple sclerosis. According to Mayo Clinic [1], Multiple Sclerosis is a disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system), in which, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body.

For Roy Waller it is the end of his career because, long story short, he can lose control on his body in any moment, in the so-called crisis his wife often mentions. Also, in the long run, the condition just gets worst, so Roy will not only lose contact with his body episodically but permanently. That is the reason why he is suggested to use a wheelchair.

2 ^ What is exactly in the Haunted Pool?

In the movie, there is no explicit answer to what is exactly haunting the pool, but magic water is not uncommon in myth. Nimue, Thetis, Diana, are nothing but divine representations of the idea of water as a source of power, strength, and health.

So, in the movie, the pool is connected to some underground water, that in the past used to be a spring. Several people along the centuries understood that the water was able to concede the deepest wish of anyone who dared to jump into the heart of the spring, but the consequence was obvious too: someone had to die.

So, the pool is just another version of the old spring where some kind of ancient water spirit just make a fair trade: a wish for a soul.

3 ^ What happened to Rebecca Summer?

In 1992, the Summers used to live in the same house bought 30 years later by the Wallers. Tommy, Rebecca’s brother was very sick, and his mother just accepted the deal with the water: Rebecca’s life in exchange for Tommy’s health and happy life. So, when the woman saw her daughter drowning in the pool, she did nothing to help her.

Now, Rebecca is the only spirit that actually helped Eve to rescue Elliot from the deep and dark waters beyond the pool, but we could see several other spirits trying to stop her. Why did Rebecca helped her? Because Rebecca’s death was relatively recent and she was not totally absorbed by the water spirit like the others.

4 ^ Why did the pool showed some specific people to its victims?

The water spirit, or the haunting pool, could take the shape of anyone who had wished for something, or any of its victims. That is why Rebecca could see his mother, because she was the one who wished, and why Eve, Izzy and Elliot could see Roy, or the cat. Most of the people that the water spirit used to haunt Izzy were actually previous victims.

5 ^ What happened at the end of Night Swim?

Although Eve got to rescue Elliot, and Izzy got to release Roy from the water’s mojo, there was no way back, someone has to die, and when Roy realized that Elliot was not going to make it, if they dared to leave the house, for him it was clear that he had to take his son’s place.

Roy exchanged his life for his son’s and his family, who stayed in the house, decided to fill the pool, so none else could be affected by the water spirit.

6 ^ Why did the water spirit chose Elliot?

The water spirits were smart enough to test each member of the family and quickly realized Elliot was the weakest. Elliot not only was bad at making friends, but also his mother pointed he was really struggling with some emotional problems, depression perhaps.

7 ^ What is the big theme in Night Swim?

Big theme in the movie is that what happens with dreams and ambitions when they clash with your desire to love and protect of your family. In a world that only measures you for your goals and success, we usually are in a position where we have to choose if we want our dreams come true, or to spend less and less time with your family. If this movie shows something is that, if you choose wrong, you will end up with nothing. Like Roy.

[1] Multiple Sclerosis, Mayo Clinic