Now Showing: The Night Swim

 

The Night Swim

Genre: Thriller/Mystery

Director: Nia DaCosta

Writer: Rene Menzie

Based on the novel by Megan Goldin

Cast: Tessa Thompson, Rooney Mara, Joe Cole, Corey Stoll, Spencer Treat Clark, Michael Sheen, Cary Elwes, Sophie Rundle, Stephanie Beatriz, Topher Grace, Robert Wisdom

Plot: A police officer comes by to report a death of a 15-year-old girl, Jenny Stills, to her mother. He then escorts her 9-year-old sister, Hannah, to the hospital to treat her wounds. Twenty-five years later, Hannah (Rooney Mara) suddenly wants to talk about it.

Elsewhere, Rachel Krall (Tessa Thompson), a viral investigative true-crime podcast host, stops at a diner for food. She finds a note on her windshield from Hannah afterward asking for help investigating Jenny’s death, asking to meet with Rachel at Morrison’s Point jetty in Neapolis. Rachel's unnerved by how Rachel purposely has kept a low profile and doesn’t know how this person has recognized her. She gets a lot of letters from podcast listeners, including some like this, wanting help. She calls Pete (Topher Grace), her producer, who is in the hospital, to tell him about her letter.

Rachel is headed to Neapolis to report on a trial for Scott Blair (Joe Cole), accused of raping a girl, Kelly Moore (Sophie Rundle), who Rachel nicknames “K.” On her podcast, Rachel explains that she felt compelled to cover this due to a rape she had covered as a crime reporter of a girl she nicknamed “Cat Girl, “who was raped after leaving a jazz club. She was always bothered by how Cat Girl was victim-shamed after her death.


Against her better judgment, Rachel goes to the jetty to find Hannah in Neapolis. Another note explains that Jenny is her older sister at the jetty, and she died here. Their mother lost her will to live after Jenny’s death and passed away from her cancer a few weeks after. Hannah was moved in with a loving foster family, but she still had constant night terrors.

On the podcast, Rachel explains that “K” was attacked while crossing through a field late at night. She walked to her friend Lexi’s house for a small party, but by 9 PM, the party had gotten out of control. K drank many cups of soda, but they’d been spiked with vodka. K ends up making out with Lou Lowe, Lexi’s ex-boyfriend, whom Lexi still likes. Lexi finds out and angrily kicks K out of the party, with K’s bag and the phone still inside. K decides to walk back home. About halfway, Harris Wilson, a boy from the party, catches up to her and offers to walk her home. They hang out at a playground three blocks from K’s place. Harris runs home to grab a joint for them, and K promises to wait for him there. Soon, an intruder shows up.

Rachel is surprised and unnerved at her hotel room to find a local cemetery map with Jenny Still’s gravesite marked. She finds out from the front desk that a woman called in (pretending to be Rachel) and asks them to put the map in her room. Later, Rachel checks the site and finds Jenny’s gravesite and her mother's. On Jenny’s headstone, someone has graffiti-ed the word “WHORE”. There’s a card and bouquet there, too, which Rachel takes with her.

Rachel also finds another letter from Hannah on her room service tray. In the note, Hannah apologizes for not meeting her. She meant to show up, but returning to that spot was too overwhelming. Hannah also tells her more about Jenny’s death. They had gone to the beach when some boys had asked Hannah for her number so they could call Jenny. Hannah didn’t know it and said their phone wasn’t working, so the boy left.

Rachel meets with Kelly’s father, Dan Moore (Michael Sheen). Dan is a Navy man whose father was a cop. He’d been reluctant to talk at first, but after Scott had done many media interviews portraying himself as the victim, Dan wanted to tell Kelly’s side of the story. Dan talks about how depressed Kelly is after the attack. Dan recalls how freaked out he’d been after Kelly hadn’t come home and he’d discovered she had left the party early.

The prosecutor in the case is Mitch Alkins (Corey Stoll), a former defense attorney. Rachel finds it strange that Mitch suddenly became a prosecutor after defending so many murderers and rapists, but Dan knows him and firmly believes Mitch can win the case. Neapolis is a small town, so everyone knows each other. Dan also went to school with Greg Blair (Cary Elwes), the father of Scott Blair. The judge in the case, Judge Shaw, went to the same school too but was four years ahead of Dan and Greg.

The next day, Pete calls, and Rachel updates him, but he expresses concern when she says she’s also pursuing the Hannah case. Rachel heads for the library to search the newspaper archives for three little blurbs. She learns that Jenny drowned at the jetty in the summer of ’92. Police believed she jumped in to go swimming and hit her head on the rocks. Later that year, the case was closed and ruled an accidental death. Rachel wonders why there was so little public interest in the death. When she asks the police station for files, they say they have no record of Jenny Stills in their system.

Rachel sees Detective Nick Cooper (Robert Wisdom) and asks about the Kelly Moore case. Nick had made the initial inquiries on the case when Kelly had gone missing. He had questioned Harris, who had been cagey and nervous. Harris admits to leaving her in the playground, but just for a few minutes. Kelly wasn’t there when he got back. Harris was later charged with aiding and abetting but took a plea deal. Afterward, Rachel grabs a meal at the Blue Sea Cafe and finds out Hannah has paid her bill and left yet another letter for her.

In it, Hannah writes about how she had asked Jenny to stop at the Old Mill Road gas station, run by a guy named Rick, to grab an ice pop after they were walking home from the beach. There, a pickup truck rolls up with the boys from the beach. They offered to give Jenny and Hannah a ride. Jenny said no at first, but Hannah pleaded with her. Hannah was tired, and it looked like rain, so Jenny accepted. They sat in a way that boxed Jenny in between the boys. One of the boys is named Bobby. They told Hannah to get out near their home but didn’t let Jenny out and drove off with her. Jenny came home late that night, covered in bruises and unable to get out of bed for days.

On a whim, Rachel goes to the Old Mill Road gas station to see if Rick is still there. He’s not, but the attendant directs her to Sally Crawford, who knows where Rick is. Sally is dismissive when Rachel mentions Jenny’s death. She says Jenny was the town slut and that Hannah being raised by foster parents was the best thing that could’ve happened to her. Rachel also goes to the jetty, where a man yells at her to go away and mentions how there are no rocks there for Jenny to hit her head on, so it is inaccurate that she died that way.

Rachel also goes to visit Scott Blair’s house. Scott’s father, Greg, is a fan of the podcast. He explains that he had been a champion swimmer and talks about how the trial will affect his career. Greg talks more, trying to humanize Scott in Rachel’s eyes. However, he doesn’t allow Rachel to speak with Scott. She sees Dale Quinn, Scott’s fancy lawyer, at home as well. Rachel knows of him and that he’s good at winning over juries.

Rachel explains that Scott was a semi-celebrity on the podcast as a swimmer training for the Olympics. Scott had recently gotten a minor calf injury, and his coach told him to take a few days off, which was why Scott was back in Neapolis. Scott sees K and offers her a ride home. However, they end up driving along the coast and going to a pizza place.

Afterward, they go to a beach, and depending on who you ask, K is either raped or they have consensual sex. He ditches her at the beach, though his parents claim it’s because she didn’t want anyone to see him dropping her off at home. Rachel also explains that at the time, Scott was in a competition with his friend to see who could have sex with the most girls in 30 days, and Scott had been losing.

Rachel shows up on the first day of the Scott Blair trial, beginning with the prosecution’s opening arguments. Mitch explains the sex competition and how Scott was determined to have sex with Kelly. Mitch explains how Scott covered his tracks. Too. Harris was told to lure her to the playground so Scott wouldn’t be seen with her, and Scott got her to wash off in the water to (unsuccessfully) clean off forensic evidence. Afterward, Quinn gives the defense’s opening arguments. Quinn talks about how great and promising Scott is and his volunteer work. He says that the sex was consensual and that Kelly was angry after learning that Scott was boasting about it.

Afterward, on the podcast, Rachel discusses the lawyers’ courtroom theatrics and explains the jury selection dynamics and how one lone juror is enough to set Scott Blair free. Rachel also makes a request to Hannah on air. Rachel says she knows someone has been trying to get her attention and wants to talk to her. Hannah cryptically follows up with a note saying it’s better if they don’t meet yet so that Rachel will have “plausible deniability.” Hannah does confirm that she’s in Neapolis, though. She writes more about her childhood. She recalls her mother being sick, poor and a social worker coming to check on them.

Harris Wilson is the first witness who explains how Scott asked him to get Kelly to the playground near his house. He explains that Scott had been sure Kelly would have sex with him. Harris had been worried because Scott normally doesn’t drink due to his training, but that night he was plastered, which could make him unpredictable. Afterward, Quinn questions Harris and tears his credibility apart. Dwaine Richards, Scott’s former roommate, is up next, and he testifies about their sex competition.

Afterward, Rachel gets in touch with Hannah’s foster mother, Kitty, who doesn’t know where Hannah is but gives her a number to reach her. The phone call causes Rachel to miss the nurse’s testimony on the rape kit, and she finds another letter from Hannah. In it, Hannah talks about how her mother finally prodded Jenny into going outside again, and Hannah and Jenny went to the beach. At the beach, Jenny hangs out with a dark-haired boy there that Jenny seems to like. However, the boys from the other day showed up. They tell the dark-haired boy something about Jenny, and he doesn’t look at Jenny the same way after.

Rachel goes to the hospital to talk to the nurse, Tracey Rice, to learn more about rape kits to talk about them on the podcast. Nurse Rice explains how the lengthy process works and how invasive and demeaning the process of collecting evidence can be. (Later, on the podcast, Rachel talks about how victims essentially are re-traumatized by the process.) Afterward, Rachel asks if the nurse knows anyone who has been at the hospital a long time (to ask about Jenny Stills), and she suggests going down to the morgue.

To Rachel’s surprise, the man down there remembers Jenny. He says there should’ve been a police investigation into it as a homicide based on the bruising on her body that was not from hitting rocks. He shows Rachel photos that he saved. He had even reached out to Jenny’s mother to tell her to request an inquest, but the mother passed away not long after. The man suspects the medical examiner didn’t pursue it for political reasons. He also mentions a car accident the same night Jenny died, and two teen boys died.

The next day, the forensic expert, Dr. Wendy North, takes the stand to talk about the physical evidence. She also comments on the bruising and how it suggests that non-consensual force was involved. (Afterwards, Rachel shows Dr. North the photos of Jenny, and she draws the same conclusion. Dr. North is horrified to hear there was never any police investigation for that victim.) Christine Moore, Kelly’s mother, takes the stand next. She talks about how they’d contacted the police to search for Kelly, but she came home eventually. They eventually were able to take her to get her rape kit done.

Rachel visits the house where Jenny used to live, and a couple there tells her that it’s now become a complex, Sea Breeze Villas. The developer was Simon Blair, the grandfather of Scott Blair. When Rachel expresses interest in the Jenny Stills case, they mention that she should talk to Mitchell Alkins, who once went to school with Jenny and was rumored to have had a crush on her.

In another letter, Hannah writes about how Jenny was finally starting to feel better, but then the boy with dark hair Jenny had hung out with showed up at their house with flowers. He asked Jenny out for pizza. When she came back, Jenny had been crying. Later, Bobby returned, and Hannah told him that Jenny had a job somewhere.

Next, Kelly’s therapist, Dr. Katrina Lawrence, talks about what a well-adjusted girl she was before the attack. In the courtroom, Rachel approaches Mitchell and mentions Jenny Stills, but he freezes and then walks away without a word.

Later, Rachel tracks down the florist where the flowers at Jenny’s gravesite had come from. Renata (Stephanie Beatriz), the woman working there, remembers Jenny sympathetically. She couldn’t believe Jenny had drowned because she was always such a strong swimmer. Renata remembers how after Jenny died, her name had become synonymous with being a slut. Even before the rumors started, everyone in town knew how Jenny and her sister came from two different dads, and that was enough for Jenny’s mother, Hope Stills, to be considered a slut. After Jenny died, a girl who had been friends with Jenny that were bullied until she left town altogether. Renata feels guilty for not standing up for that girl. Renata also looks up their flower deliveries and finds that there have been multiple orders for a bouquet to be delivered to Jenny’s grave with the same message on the card each time, “Forgive Me.” There’s going to be another delivery the following day.

Rachel then finds Rich at the gas station at the old folks’ home. The nurse mentions that he has lung cancer. Rich reluctantly admits that Rich knew Jenny and Hannah. Hannah had come in covered in blood, so he had called the ambulance and driven her to the jetty. When the police showed up, Rich left. He’d seen a boy there too, but Rick refused to say who it was. As she leaves, Rachel notices that Blair Developments own the home.

On the podcast, Rachel talks about Kelly’s upcoming testimony for the case. She discusses how the victims have to testify to get justice, but the perpetrators do not because, technically, it’s the prosecution’s burden to prove the case. The following day, Rachel goes to the gravesite and sees the courier drop off the flowers. Then, she sees Mitch Alkins come by to place the flowers on the grave. She realizes that today must be the anniversary of Jenny’s death.

She heads to court afterward, where Kelly is testifying. Kelly explains how, after getting pizza, she and Scott had been kissing on the beach. She didn’t want to take it further, but Scott forced her. Then, he took a picture of her partially nude and posted it online with a caption that rated her a “C minus.” Afterward, she felt exhausted and suspected that Scott had slipped something into her drink. She woke up to Scott ordering her to wash up in the outdoor shower on the beach. He also threatened to do it again and bring friends if she told anyone. In the podcast, Rachel discusses the testimony and describes the brutal cross-examination. Upset, Kelly ends up stepping down from the witness box, and it’s unclear if she will return.

In the meantime, the judge decides to take the unorthodox measure of continuing with the trial and resuming Kelly’s testimony later when she’s ready. The defense presents their first witness, which is Pastor Mark Fleming. He testifies about Scott’s good character. Then, Scott’s old coach, Tom Tarrant, is called. He says what a great kid Scott was, but Mitch gets him to admit that Scott had been involved in an incident of hazing that resulted in the other boy leaving the school.

The next witness surprises Rachel. It’s the man who yelled at her at the jetty. His face is disfigured with scars, giving him a frightening appearance. He’s identified as Vince Knox. He’s a vagrant who tells a story about seeing Scott rescue a drowning boy. Afterward, Rachel sees Vince arguing with a man with gray hair who appears to be with the Blair team, possibly as a security detail. Pete runs a background check on Vince and learns that Vince Knox died in prison four years ago. They determine that this man must have taken on Vince’s name for some reason. Rachel sees “Vince,” suspecting that he knows more than he’s saying. “Vince” admits that Greg told him to testify or else Greg would remind people of something from “Vince’s” past.

On her podcast, Rachel talks about how the defense has presented a forensic expert that contradicts everything the prosecution’s expert has said. Rachel thinks the whole case hinges on Kelly coming back to finish testifying. The next day is Saturday, and Mitch is finally ready to discuss Jenny. He admits that he knew her (he’s the brown-haired boy from the beach) and hurt her by asking her out but only being interested in sex. He didn’t force her, but he knows he broke Jenny’s spirit with his attitude toward her. Mitch also asks Rachel to talk to the Moores. They are reluctant to question Kelly more, but Mitch is confident they will lose the case if she doesn’t finish testifying.

Hannah continues recounting her story, piece by piece, to Rachel. She recalls going to the movie theater with Jenny and Jenny getting into an argument with a girl who called her a slut. One day, as Hannah and Jenny walk home from the bus stop, Jenny gets abducted by the boys with the pickup truck. Hannah sees that they’re assaulting her and runs to throw a rock at one of the boys, but Bobby grabs her telling her to hide for her safety. When Hannah gets away, she runs to a phone booth to call the police, but one of the boys spots her and stops her.

Rachel talks to Dan and Christine Moore to tell them that Scott will go free without Kelly’s testimony. They believe her, but Christine thinks the psychological trauma will be so significant that Kelly shouldn’t proceed. Christine says she plans to move away from here. Dan grew up here and wanted to come back despite his lousy childhood. Dan’s father was the police chief, but he was also abusive, resulting in Dan’s mother killing herself. Christine is determined to leave with Kelly. Dan and Christine decide not to have Kelly testify.

Rachel can’t shake the feeling that she’s missing something. Then, she realizes the similarity between the two stories she’s been pursuing. In both, Rachel thinks of Bobby wrapping Hannah up in her shirt and Kelly mentioning something similar. She had watched “Vince” do the same thing with an injured seagull earlier. Rachel hurries out to see “Vince.” She guesses his real name is Bobby Green, which he finally confirms. Bobby went to jail for driving a pickup that got into an accident that killed two teen boys (the day Jenny died). It caught on fire, which is how he was injured and disfigured. “Vince” is recalled to the witness stands the next day and explains that the honest Vince is a guy he met in prison who died. Bobby took on his name. On the stand, he admits that he heard Kelly being attacked and found her.

Hannah updates her story to Rachel, saying Rick saw Jenny’s killer. Hannah went to see him that morning, and he admitted it since he only had a few weeks left to live, and there was nothing they could do to him now. Hannah then recalls how after the boys found her, one threatened to rape her, too. He made fun of Bobby for not joining in on the action with Jenny. Bobby attacks the boy threatening Hannah, but Bobby gets burned in the bonfire.

The boys leave to take Bobby to the hospital. Jenny is hurt and needs an ambulance. She sends Hannah to the gas station to get help. Hannah shows up at Rick’s bloodied and injured. She calls 911, and then he drives her back to the beach to wait for the ambulance. However, when they get there, Jenny is not on the beach but drowning in the water.

Hannah also says she’s ready to meet. That night, Rachel finally meets Hannah at the jetty. Hannah tells Rachel that she will try to get a confession from the killer tonight. It’s Dan Moore. On the jetty, Hannah screams at Dan to get a confession out of him.

He admits that after they left Jenny, they returned, and he tossed her into the water. Dan was worried she’d tell them about the rape or about Bobby’s death (in case Bobby didn’t make it). After they left, Dan was driving as the boys argued about what to do about Bobby. As they argue, Dan gets into an accident, and his friends (Aaron and Lucas) die. Dan calls his dad. Dan’s father, the police chief, showed up and placed Bobby in the driver’s seat. He then told Dan to lie and say the two of them (Dan and his father) were together all night. Somehow, Bobby survived but was sent to jail for the accident.

After the confession, Dan demands Rachel’s phone (where she has recorded it) and tosses it into the water. He then makes a getaway. Later, at the hospital, Detective Cooper informs them that Dan is now on the run.

The jury finds Scott guilty of one count of sexual assault and two counts of sexual battery. (He’s not found guilty of rape because the jury found that it didn’t meet the legal definition of rape.) Mitch thinks Scott will get eight to ten years, but Scott’s family will likely appeal the decision.

Dan Moore’s body is also found the morning after the decision is released. He decided to kill himself.

At the end of the podcast, Rachel drives off, and Pete informs her that he’s found a case for Season 4. In her hotel lobby, there's been an unhappy nightingale that doesn’t sing, and random tourists come up and scream at it or bother it to sing, so she rescues it from the hotel as she leaves.