Director Bryce McGuire Reveals He Appears As An Underwater Ghost In Night Swim
An unknown supernatural presence haunts a backyard swimming pool in Night Swim. Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado spoke with director Bryce McGuire about what to expect in the upcoming Blumhouse horror film at New York Comic Con.
McGuire was inspired by the classic pool game Marco Polo and that exposed feeling you get being in the water when it came to telling the story behind Night Swim. “So, listen, hear this out. I’m not recommending doing this. In fact, Iwould say do not do this game. But they say if you’re in a pool at night by yourself, you say Marco three times. If anyone died in that pool, if they drowned in that water, that voie will say, “Polo.” Try it for yourself and find out, or don’t. I can’t recommend this. Some weird shits happened,” he told me at the Blumfest press line. “You're vulnerable being in the water and then you're also vulnerable by having your eyes closed. We all know what that feels like. We all know what it feels like to peek through our eyes. What if you saw something in front of you that you think is your friend, [but] what if what rose up from the depths there was not who you thought?”
He continued: “People understood that feeling of being alone in the pool at night and what could be around you. Then it was just kind of asking the question of like, what other what mystery could be there? What's the bigger story? There was a concept that clicked in and as soon as that clicked I knew there was a big enough mystery here beneath the surface that would would justify an hour and a half time. You have to watch the movie to find out, but there's a big secret and a big idea here that is that is not just the pool. There's a bigger story.”
The most challenging part of the film? The water scenes. “There’s some big water stuff that happens later in the movie and it has more scope to it. Those elements were really challenging because it involves deep water holds, long breath hold, and creatures and VFX. There's some big moments that just took a ton of orchestration to build that world,” McGuire shared. “I would say anything to do with the water is the coolest part of the movie, it's the funnest part of the movie. It was also the most difficult to achieve technically and in terms of time, but it was worth it, it was well worth it.”
McGuire even exclusively shared with Pop Culture Planet that you’ll be able to spot him in the movie. “I'm about like 1:20, 1:30,” when asked how long he could hold his breath underwater. “I actually got breath hold training from the people from Pirates of the Caribbean, from Avatar. This was our underwater team. I have a video of me swimming around our underwater set with a GoPro […] with my snorkel on and just like swimming around. It’s my prize possession from the movie. If you look closely, I'm a ghost in the movie. They got me in there. That's why I had to have breath training. They wouldn't let me be a performer if I couldn't hold my breath for a certain amount of time and I didn't have that technique because it wouldn't be safe. All of our performers had to go through very technical breath training.”
With the rise of original horror projects, it’s exciting to see Night Swim be added to the list of new IP joining the landscape. “I love what's happening in horror right now. I think we're really in this kind of Renaissance where more art house A24 stuff, like Talk To Me or The Witch or Hereditary or Midsommar can exist and find an audience or just stuff that's like really, really good commercial horror like The Black Phone or The Invisible Man or M3GAN,” said McGuire. “I love that there is a place for everyone to have very high executed [horror films] and a spectrum of [them]. I think that’s a really good place to be. For a while, it was one or the other. Now you’re seeing things like Smile that put it all together on both sides of that. I think it’s an incredible time for horror.”
Night Swim hits theaters January 5, 2024 — and following along here for more of our New York Comic Con coverage.
