The Girl in the Pool, Directed by Dakota Gorman, follows Thomas, (played by Freddie Prinze Jr.), a wealthy family man whose birthday party spirals into something uncontrollable, after he discovers the body of a young woman in his pool. Seems like a simple plot but what comes is a rollercoaster coaster of events which seems to expand on things like secrecy, image management, and moral decay.
Before I talk about casting and whatnot, I'd like to say that this movie sustain tension and drags on suspense in a way that is not annoying, through social performance rather than action, and the plot unfolds through conversation, rather than action like most thriller, every conversation, every word brings to close to how the drama happened in the first place. Thomas spends most of the film trying to maintain the illusion that everything is normal while internally spiraling. Guests keep arriving, family and friends interactions still continue, everyone is smiling, drinks are poured. Meanwhile, a dead body still exists at the center of the story like a black hole pulling everyone in.
Casting is one of the film’s smartest decisions.
I personally haven't watched a lot of Freddie Prinze Jr.'s movie, this is my first movie and he delivered quite well. Thomas is presented as charming, successful, and composed. But as plot unfolds the cracks appear and we can see a break in character. One thing I'll commend is how Prinze portray panic, it was more on the subtle side than crazy outburst that immediately tells you something is wrong. If I was not presented with the fact that there was a dead girl at first, I wouldn't have predicted spot on that something was wrong. You can feel him calculating every interaction: What do they know? What did they notice? Do they believe me? Am I hold it together? This becomes a better way to show panic and tension.
One thing I'll say is the fact that the supporting characters lack depth and only adds paranoia to the plot. The act like mirrors reflecting Thomas' guilt other than characters. Every glance feels suspicious, Every question feels loaded. Every interruption feels threatening. The guests arriving at the house could be compared to monsters appearing in traditional horror films because each new interaction. Although it is clever, it means that some supporting characters lack individual depth outside their narrative purpose. The movie mostly focuses on Thomas' guilt and anxiety that under characters feel under developed.
The real horror in this movie is not really about the dead body, the real horror is watching how quickly people begin prioritizing self-preservation over truth. It shows how morality breaks when it's under pressure, people will tend to preserve their comfort, reputation, or security when it is put against morality and ethics. What makes it more uneasy is how people much lies and deceit one can hide as they smile politely and keep up their appearance.
At it's core The Girl in the Pool is tense, visually polished, psychological thriller, and more interested in social mechanics, than the conventional thriller. It is less of a murder mystery and more of a movie portraying guilt eating away at every social interaction around it.
Freddie Prinze Jr. gives a restrained performance that keeps the much needed tension. This is not just a thriller but it reveals the idea of how long can someone continue pretending everything is fine even when it's falling apart.
It's Abeegail ✨💗
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The images are screenshots from the movie
