‘Below’ series review: What lies beneath… is pure thrills
Josh Hartnett leads this entertaining creature feature set in Newfoundland, where a sinister sea monster, community fears and resettlement anxieties collide in a gripping six-episode thriller
By rooting the creature feature in a specific place, the mini-series uses the monster to address genuine feelings of exploitation and displacement. The monster is also thoroughly smashing
Published - October 12, 2026 07:54 pm IST
A still from ‘Below’ | Photo Credit: Netflix
A show featuring a personable marine biologist saying with complete seriousness, “it is connected to the arrival of a lethally aggressive cephalopod,” translates to instant fun. There is Boiúna in the Amazon and a cephalopod in the remote island of Snook’s Arm in Newfoundland giving us monstrous thrills.
The show opens in 1986, when the Penney family move out of their home from Little Pot Rock to Snook’s Arm under the Newfoundland Resettlement Program. Like quite a few families did, the Penneys also move their house on a raft, towing it behind their boat. When something bumps the house from below, 10-year-old Calvin’s father goes into the house to look.
Calvin thinks he sees a giant eye in the sea before something breaks through the house from below. Calvin cuts the tow rope to save their boat from going under with the house. Forty years later, Calvin (Josh Hartnett) still believes he is responsible for his father’s death.
A widower, Calvin lives with his eldest son, Wade (Charlie Heaton), while his daughter, Mary (Ruby Stokes), is studying in university in Montreal and his youngest son, Jay (Rohan Campbell), works on a rig. As the fishing catch gets slimmer by the year thanks to global warming, there is another vote on resettlement.
Calvin does not wish to move out of Snook’s Arm, though quite a few on the island would like to take the relocation payout and move. Calvin’s elder sister, Ruth (Willow Kean) is the harbour master. Calvin, who supplements his income by harvesting icebergs, finds one, but is unable to sell it as it is deemed “bad ice.”
He asks his friend and marine biologist, Dr. Fonda Howander (Mackenzie Davis) to have a look at the ice and she finds something strange in the sample. There is something wrong with the ice and affects all those who drink it, giving them hallucinations and a raging thirst.
It is Come Home Year, a time for family gatherings, fun and festivities and visitors. The visitors bring mainland problems, including boat captains up to no good, as well as visits from the local horrors like the sea hag who would sit on your chest — we heard of her from Widow’s Bay.
A still from ‘Below’ | Photo Credit: Netflix
Shot on location in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, the rugged coastline gives Below a definite sense of place and community, instead of a generic tropical setting. The dialect contributes to the authenticity.
The monster, which might not be a mindless killing machine after all, is quite eye-catching and could also be symbolic of the community’s anxieties about displacement and economic hardship. Even though we do not get to see the whole monster, the sense of scale comes across in the wide shots of jagged rocks and the implacable sea.
Hartnett knows his assignment and is perfect as the rugged man of the sea and the rest of the cast including Natasha Henstridge as the Resettlement Liaison Officer with an agenda of her own, fit into their roles.
There are echoes from other monster movies, including one of Jaws, where three men, (a marine biologist, an Ahab-style captain and a community leader) set out to catch the monster.
At six episodes, Below does not overstay its welcome. The location is bleakly beautiful, the monster awe-inspiring and you also get to learn of fun facts such as how ice from ancient icebergs sell for upwards of $100 for six cubes!
Below is currently streaming on Netflix
Published - October 12, 2026 07:54 pm IST
cinema / English cinema / streaming / television / arts, culture and entertainment / entertainment (general) / reviews / The Hindu Weekend
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