It’s summertime, and that means people will of course be flooding the beaches to soak up some rays and enjoy frolicking in the ocean. Because of pop culture and the legacy of Jaws, I’m sure plenty of those beachgoers will have that terrifying thought about what could be lurking beneath the surface, potentially stalking them and ready to strike. The reality is sharks want nothing to do with us; they’d rather feast on a tasty harbor seal or a giant tuna, but that doesn’t change how so many people are afraid of sharks, and Hollywood has happily cashed in on those fears, churning out numerous shark-attack films year after year. Jaws is of course the pinnacle of the genre; then I’d consider The Shallows and Deep Blue Sea to follow behind it. Personally I’m a fan of this sub-genre of creature feature films. No matter how absurd these films may get, if it has a shark turning swimmers into its own little buffet, I have to check it out. To be fair, there have been some duds in the genre, but the only one I wish I could take back and erase from my memory would be last years Black Demon. Yikes, that was a bad one. Right now, though, I’m going to be talking about the new French film that Netflix has released, Under Paris. Is it worth taking the plunge, or does it follow in the footsteps of many previous films from the streaming giant and turn out to be a dud?
The film opens up in the Pacific Ocean, where a group of scientists are exploring the great garbage patch that is floating in the open waters. They are there because they’ve been tracking a mako shark, and they soon realize that there’s something strange about their shark. It has managed to grow double the size it should be. The shark wastes little time before chewing its way through the scientists, leaving behind Sophia (Berenice Bejo), who’s just watched her husband get killed along with the other members of the team. The film jumps ahead three years, and an activist group has been tracking this mako, and they’ve discovered it has found its way into the Seine River and has made the river its new hunting ground. It just so happens Sophia is working at an aquarium not too far from the Seine River. This coincidence does give some heavy Jaws IV: The Revenge vibes, only instead of revenge, perhaps the shark has come to finish what it started.
Sophia knows there is something going on with this shark, not just that it is enormous, but that it has been able to adapt to fresh water, and as the film plays on, she discovers even more strange oddities about this killing machine. We get to see plenty of familiar tropes like the police of course ignoring the scientist and proclaiming there’s no sharks in the river, and of course their minds are swayed when they meet eyes with the monster for themselves. But my favorite familiar trope comes with the mayor ignoring the scientist and the police when they suggest shutting the river down because there’s a big triathlon that the city has invested in, so the race must go on, and viewers, you already know what that means … chaos will, of course, reign on the Seine.
There’s a very overt message in this film about global warming and how people have polluted the oceans and our actions have created this killer shark. Thankfully the shark at least has no agenda besides making humans their little “nom nom” snack as it kills indiscriminately. One of the high points of the film is maybe just a bit past the midway point where the shark goes on a full-on feeding frenzy, and it’s at this point that the film shifts gears in tone, and for me it was for the better. The first half feels like the film is trying to be a serious horror film, and that worked for me, but it’s at this midway point where it’s as though the reins were released and this film just goes bonkers in the best way. Sure, people will hate on this and call it cheesy and knock some of the CGI, but I embraced this. This film decided the hell with being stuffy and trying to have a message and instead decided to have some fun, and that’s what makes this a new summertime gem of a film. In my eyes this hits on cool absurd levels that exceed the cult camp classic Sharknado, and I feel Under Paris is the new camp classic that will get a much-earned cult following.
What also sets this film apart from the many other shark-attack films out there is the setting. Putting this film in the middle of Paris just gives this a fresh look and some pretty fun set pieces. Traversing the aqueducts and delving into the underwater catacombs of the city just make this film feel different from so many others that have come before. Helming the film is French director Xavier Gens, who has made a small name for himself with the horror film Frontiers, and later he went on to do the Hitman (2007) film. Under Paris seems like a film that could boost his status with horror fans. I love the look of this film, and the underwater cinematography is pretty good as it takes us into the murky depths of the river, always making us feel something is lurking just beyond the murky shadows.
The film sets itself up nicely for a sequel, and how things end the potential for what could happen next has me excited. This isn’t a film trying to win awards; this film is just meant for you to have a good time, and it delivers. Sure, it gets carried away with the shark leaping out of the water to nab a victim, but I say turn those moments into a drinking game, and you will have a blast. The movie may not make you afraid to go into the water, but on a hot summer day when you want to just enjoy the AC because the beach is just too far away, Under Paris will help quench that thirst.
You can now stream Under Paris exclusively on Netflix.
