The Pool

Alone with a job to finish, Day is left to scrub a long abandoned pool that sits six meters deep and empty in the heat of the afternoon. He dozes on an inflatable raft, the water level receding as the sun shifts. When he wakes, the pool is a shallow trap, the sides too slick for easy climbing, and every attempt to pull himself out ends with a slip back into the void. His panicked calls echo off the concrete, and for moments there is only the faint drip of water and the distant hum of machinery. The only reply comes from a distant crocodile farm, a lurking threat that makes the quiet water feel like a trap with teeth.

Released in 2018, The Pool is a Thai thriller directed by Ping Lumpraploeng. Produced on a tight budget of about 201 thousand dollars, it anchors its tension in a single claustrophobic setting.

Reception centers on the film's lean premise and the way restraint heightens fear. It foregrounds themes of isolation and survival, turning a mundane cleaning task into a psychological pressure test as Day confronts dwindling air, falling light, and a patient threat beneath the surface.