There are sharks all up in the Seine in Netflix’s upcoming aquatic horror, Under Paris. Here’s the first trailer.
At some point, sharks will club together and get a PR manager; until then, we’ll keep getting films like Jaws, Sharknado, and upcoming efforts like Beast Of War, Something In The Water and Renny Harlin’s Deep Water (yes, the same Renny Harlin who made that earlier anti-shark polemic, Deep Blue Sea).
To the ever-growing list we can now add Under Paris, coming to a small screen near you this summer courtesy of Netflix. If you haven’t gathered already: yes, the film really is about sharks swimming up the Seine to terrorise all the hundreds of people that (presumably) swim in Paris’ waters on any given day.
Yes, it’s all incredibly silly, but if the trailer’s anything to go by, everyone involved knows it’s all incredibly silly. Under Paris is directed by Xavier Gens, who broke through with the extremely gory 2007 indie horror, Frontier(s) and has since made things like Hitman (based on the videogame series) and several episodes of TV’s Gangs Of London. It also stars Berenice Bejo, who got an Oscar nomination for her work in 2011’s The Artist. Time will tell whether the Academy will recognise her work here.
For such an unabashed B-movie, Under Paris looks quite striking, all snark aside: that shot of hundreds of puny humans splashing and doggy paddling through what looks like an underground drainage system is a keeper. As is the one of an actor (possibly Bejo) coming up for air among a sea of plastic bottles.
The synopsis, if you’re into such things, runs as follows:
In order to save Paris from an international bloodbath, a grieving scientist is forced to face her tragic past when a giant shark appears in the Seine.
Sounds fab. Maybe it’s just as well sharks haven’t hired a PR manager yet after all.
Under Paris will stream on Netflix from the 5th June 2024. Thanks to First Showing for bringing this one to our attention.
