Under Paris is a horror-action-disaster film by Xavier Gens set to release in 2024. Gens is known for his work in genre cinema, and this time he combines eco-thriller tension with shark-horror spectacle to create a creature feature set in an unexpected venue: the city of Paris. What sets this film apart from other shark movies is the European urban setting, environmental themes, and the pacing typical to disaster films.
With a budget of nearly $20 million, Under Paris was released on Netflix where it became one of the platform’s most-viewed non-English films within the year. It generated considerable buzz for its striking visuals, contentious reception, and unexpected emotional depth.
Plot Summary
The film opens in the Pacific Ocean, where marine biologist Sophia Assalas and her team analyze shark migration patterns. They have tagged a highly intelligent and unusually large mako shark named Lilith. During a nighttime dive, Lilith becomes inexplicably aggressive and decimates Sophia’s team, killing her husband along with several others. Sophia manages to escape but is emotionally traumatized and subsequently retires from fieldwork.
Now employed at an aquarium in Paris, Sophia has moved on from her traumatic past. At the same time, Mika and Ben, members of a new wave of young environmental activists, are tracking the GPS signal of a shark named Lilith. To their amazement, the shark has migrated from the Pacific to the Atlantic, traversed European rivers, and now inhabit the Seine River directly beneath Paris.
The core conflict of the film escalates when the city of Paris becomes poised to host a global triathlon, one of its segments scheduled to take place in the Seine. In a display of vanity and misguided pride, the Mayor of Paris ignores activist and scientific warnings about the harmful impact of holding the event, claiming it will bring tremendous exposure and honor.
Adil, the river police commander who confirms the activists’ data, pulls Sophia back into the action. With Adil, the eco-activists, and Sophia, they attempt to avert catastrophe by warning the authorities and trying to capture the shark first. Their defiance against the authorities is met with stubborn route compliance and delays due to red tape, bureaucratic vanity, and political posturing.
The shark attacks, as predicted, occur during the triathlon, resulting in widespread panic, bloodshed, chaos, and utter disorder. As Lilith emerges from the Seine, sharks lethally surfacing in the river, dozens drown, military forces are deployed, and ultimately Paris suffers severe damages due to drowned detours and other hinderances.
Sophia and Adil attempt to rescue survivors, confronting the catacomb truth of Lilith’s eggs while the city suffers severe damage combined with absolute flooding, including transfromation of famous landmarks. In essence, the rest of the film outlines the aftermath of the attack as primitive bred sharks swim through the flood infested ruins. This not only deepens the tragedy but hints towards initiating a worldwide ecological catastrophe.
Characters and Performances
Sophia Assalas (Played by Berenice Bejo)
Sophia remains the moral center and emotional component throughout the entire film. While the relics catalogue ghost show serves as a withdrawn trauma for Sophia, Bejo ensures audience connection with proper subtle physique mastery. Furthermore, her evolution from passive towards engaging allows forms the core of the story.
Adil (portrayed by Nassim Lyes)
As a river police commander, Adil displays no nonsense behavior — he starts off skeptical, but rapidly becomes a key accomplice to Sophia. Lyes’s portrayal of Adil blends strength with vulnerability, depicting a grounded and empathetic counterbalance to the chaos that continues to escalate around him.
Mika and Ben (played by Léa Léviant and Nagisa Morimoto)
These younger actors serve as the moral compass of the film. Mika is bold, fierce, and fully committed to the cause which depicts the responsibility felt by the younger generation and their fight against environmental apathy and disregard from those in positions of authority.
Mayor of Paris (portrayed by Anne Marivin)
The Mayor epitomizes political denial and ambition devoid of any foresight. Her decision to carry on with the triathlon despite credible warning serves as both a narrative catalyst to the disaster and a reflection of the ever-present struggle between economic interests and environmental considerations.
Themes and Tone
Ecological Crisis
The motion picture examines the impact of human activity and ecological imbalance. Lilith’s forced migration is presumed to be the consequence of climate change, increasing sea temperatures, and disrupted food-chain dynamics. The shark in the story transforms into a hybrid of monster and a symptom of a far more critical dilemma.
Institutional Failure
From the provided text, it is clear why action isn’t taken until the last moment. The film criticizes political bureaucracy and the focus of public attention shifted to the public persona instead of safety measures regarding the citizen’s welfare. The mayor’s decision to ignore much-needed guidance results in preventable lives being lost at the most catastrophic levels.
Survival and Sacrifice
As the city comes crumbling down, desperate situations become the norm for characters. The human sacrifice involved becomes increasingly poetic, amplifying the narrative embrace apocalyptic human suffering. Sophia’s arc encapsulates the emotional destruction that arises from personal loss juxtaposed against acts of unyielding courage.
Urban Horror
Unlike other shark films Under Paris is not set in oceans or on beaches. Instead the cities of France serve as the stage with subways, bridges, and even catacombs. Iconic places such as the Notre-Dame and the Eiffel Tower become visual counterpoints to the turmoil lurking within. For France, the fright now lies within the familiar.
Direction and Cinematic Style
The film’s director, Xavier Gens, is known for his kinetic style, which he puts to use in this film. The pacing is brisk, shifting rapidly from intimate moments between characters to large scale devastation. Cinematography utilizes underwater shots, drone angles over Paris, and dimly lit subterranean scenes that evoke claustrophobia and suspense, creating a uniquely captivating atmosphere.
While certain sequences of the film may prioritize spectacle over realism, the film’s general pacing manages an equilibrium between tension and entertainment. Though there may be more polished examples of shark CGI elsewhere, the suspenseful key moments of attack and tension are dominated by the requisite suspense.
Silence dappled with sonar pulses or heartbeats creates an especially haunting atmosphere, which, when paired with ambient noise or acoustic rhythms, heightens dread enough to be considered minimal yet effective.
Reception
Stream Under Paris today and you will instantly recognize misleading tags claiming “viewed 2 million times in the first week.” Viewers praised its rapidly changing story, urban setting and fast pacing, however critics remained deeply divided dubbing the work inconsistent.
The film is also provided with an overarching environmental message, highlighting the dire reality of climate change while doing so in a thrilling manner, marking Under Paris as a noteworthy entry in the ever-growing shark-thriller genre.
Sequel Potential and Impact
The film’s conclusion suggests a more extensive range of shark infiltration beyond Paris, leaving the door open for a possible sequel. Given the film’s range and success on streaming platforms, it seems likely a sequel would seek to further globalize the narrative—perhaps advancing the plot to other metropolitan centers or concentrating on the ecological disaster foreshadowed in the ending.
Under Paris manages to stand out as an audacious debut feature with environmentally conscious undertones that uses a tired genre as a vessel for commentary on current pressing issues. It’s rich mixture of horror, science fiction, and sociopolitical critique all at once makes it more than just a summer film—it reflects contemporary fears and anxieties around humans’ reckless provocations toward nature.
Conclusion
Under Paris has a unique place within the already saturated shark horror sub-genre by placing its creature feature within the historic and contemporary framework of Paris. This film embodies ecological imbalance, human hubris, and the dire consequences of stagnation in policy: thrilling action and profound emotional beats, alongside the film’s plot, which delivers a global message—makes the film both entertaining and intellectually stimulating.
Under Paris is more than a simple creature feature; it is a wake-up call, a survival story, and a cautionary tale all in one. As with any form of artwork, it can be appreciated purely as escapist entertainment, yet it also serves as a reflection of a societal disaster rooted in climate change. Regardless of the angle taken, the film has an impact that stays with the audience well after the credits have rolled.
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