Freddie Prinze Jr’s work in rom-com She’s All That made him one of the biggest teen idols of the late 90s and early 00s. Since then, the actor’s profile has lowered, with him more content to focus on a career in voice acting. 2025, however, appears to be the year that Freddie Prinze Jr. returns to screens with the newest installment of I Know What You Did Last Summer due to be released. Before that though, he leads a new thriller, The Girl in the Pool.
Written by Jackson Reid Williams and directed by Dakota Gorman, The Girl in the Pool sees Freddie Prinze Jr’s character, Thomas, put through the wringer. Told over the course of one day, The Girl in the Pool is set on Thomas’ Birthday. On the surface Thomas appears to have everything, a beautiful wife, two well-adjusted college-age children, and a stunning house. Thomas however, is not as enamoured with his circumstances and is clearly in the midst of a mid-life crisis. This has led him to embark on an affair with a younger woman, a move that ultimately becomes a living nightmare. After a surprise arrival from his mistress ends in her death, Thomas is left frantically trying to hide the body. But just as he’s about to dispose of his young lover, his house is overrun with guests for his surprise Birthday party.
In a strange way, the premise of The Girl in the Pool shares some parallels with Spanish genre film The Coffee Table. The film from Caye Casas saw a father desperately trying to mask the tragic passing of his infant son during a dinner party, and despite its horrific premise, was actually rather funny. Casas played the scenario as an absurd comedy of errors to great effect, and to a degree, that is what Gorman attempts to do with The Girl in the Pool. The end result is not as refined as The Coffee Table unfortunately, and the humour never comes through as strong as it could. Similarly, the situation never becomes as intense as it could be, leaving the film floundering between two opposing tones and ultimately feeling a little muddled.
Whilst the tone is off balance, Freddie Prinze Jr. does great work here. It may have been a while since he was in front of the cameras regularly, but he has lost none of his star power. Much like Josh Hartnett in 2024’s Trap, Prinze Jr. shows that it was more than merely his handsome appearance that won him a legion of fans. As Thomas he does a fantastic job of portraying his anxiety and bewilderment about the situation that he has found himself in. Witnessing his real time breakdown becomes the compelling hook to The Girl in the Pool, thanks entirely to Freddie Prinze Jr’s committed performance. Again, as with Hartnett in Trap, many of the elements of The Girl in the Pool are ludicrous and silly, but Prinze Jr. manages to keep the film on track, ensuring it never feels too preposterous.
Frustratingly, the hard work of Prinze Jr. is undone by an excess of flab to the narrative. Thomas has too many conflicting dramas to deal with, from his overbearing and suspicious father-in-law, overzealous co-workers, revelations from his children, and the frosty reception from his wife. Then, there’s the addition of his mistress’ husband to further muddy the water. With so many subplots and relationships unfolding, The Girl in the Pool becomes a little too bitty, everything compartmentalised without ever achieving full cohesion. Frustrations aside, The Girl in the Pool remains an entertaining enough way to spend a couple of hours, with events reaching a climax in a relatively breezy ninety minutes. Not exactly a blistering return to screens for Freddie Prinze Jr., The Girl in the Pool nonetheless affirms that he has lost none of his star power.
Girl in the Pool
Summary
Too many sub-stories muddy the waters, making The Girl in the Pool a murky, but still entertaining, return for Freddie Prinze Jr.
The Girl in the Pool is available on Digital Platforms 20 January. Distributed by Signature Entertainment.
