The Girl in the Pool (2024)

The Girl in the Pool (2024)

On his birthday, Tom’s life falls apart when his mistress is found dead in his swimming pool. Terrified of the consequences and wanting to protect his family, he hides the truth…

Ahhh… what a pleasure to see Freddie Jr. Prinze, Monica Potter, and Kevin Pollak again!
That’s it: that’s all for this movie!

On a slightly more serious note, but not much more, this movie is a disaster. If these actors are coming out of the shadows to produce something like this, it’s better to give it a miss. It seems that it’s really a question of money (or rather a lack of money!) that drives people to create such pitiful feature films.

When I think that this trio has been in so many movies that I loved. Freddie was in She’s All That (1999), Scooby-Doo: The Movie (2002), Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), Boys and Girls (2000), but also, above all, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). However, the 2025 version ruined everything, as it is relatively depressing and disappointing.

It should be noted that Freddie and Monica were already together in Head Over Heels! But this reunion is disastrous.

Monica starred in Along Came A Spider (2001), Saw (2004), and Patch Adams (1998).

Kevin was in The Usual Suspects (1995), A Few Good Men (1992), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), and Columbus Circle (2010).

This film is supposed to be a drama-mystery-thriller… but I had to check if it wasn’t also labeled as a comedy. If it had been a comedy, it could have been a masterpiece. It’s a shame they got the genre wrong, because the ending is unintentionally hilarious! Just thinking about the title makes me laugh.

Dakota Gorman made another film called All About Sex (2020). She directed it and is the lead actress. I shouldn’t judge without watching it, but frankly, it looks just as bad… if not worse!

An affair, a dead body, a surprise party, a crime scene packed with people… Tom is living a waking nightmare when his double life is about to be exposed. With everything at stake, he must save face in front of his guests while figuring out what to do with the dead body. Dakota Gorman builds her film around the panic of this man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She incorporates numerous flashbacks of memories that haunt him at every moment. With the party in full swing, he can’t pretend that nothing is wrong…

An extremely tense, paranoid situation that fails to mask a sluggish, repetitive plot or Freddie Prinze Jr.’s awkward performance, which remains unchanged for 90 minutes. There are a few revelations along the way, but overall it’s a predictable film that lacks real twists and confrontations.

However, starting with an idea similar to Hitchcock’s Rope (1948) wasn’t a bad idea in itself, and it was certainly an influence, but it doesn’t hold a candle to it, even if the initial idea is still a good one. The film moves slowly along two timelines… but I’m not sure that was a good idea. What’s more, the actors are pretty bad or mediocre, barely likable. Especially the lead actor! He comes across as so idiotic from start to finish that you wonder if it’s not a parody of a thriller. As a result, the film drags on far too long.

A very pale B movie. Relatively predictable plot, very light dialogue. “OK” is the most repeated word in this film. Watched and already forgotten. Not interesting at all!

I did find one very positive review from someone who loved it… or at least really liked it: “Captivating from the very first seconds. Great pace. Well-executed final twist. However, there are some minor credibility issues, whether in the acting of the central character (too expressive at times) or the guy who shows up at the party supposedly looking for his wife and ends up drinking and flirting with the owner.”

To sum up and conclude:

Underdeveloped story, unlikable characters, sloppy ending. I was bored stiff, but I burst out laughing at the end. But I wasn’t laughing with the film, I was laughing at the film. I don’t recommend wasting your time with The Girl in the Pool.