Below First Reviews: A Monster Horror Worth Watching

Josh Hartnett stars in Netflix’s limited series Below, and according to critics, it’s a worthwhile add to any spooky season watchlist. While a few critics find the pacing objectionable, most agree Below brings a new thrill to the genre and provides pertinent criticisms about resettlement and climate change. Hartnett provides a standout performance as a fisherman who protects his community, though some critics disapprove of his Newfoundland accent. At the end of the day, Below provides good spooks in its tense Canadian setting.

Read what critics are saying Below:

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It can be a challenge for shows like Below to establish local flavor while getting its main action moving, but with Hartnett’s charmingly ragged performance, and a solid group around him, this series does it well. It also doesn’t scrimp on suggesting how crazy and sea monster-y things could really get. Early notes of warning aren’t jump scare-y, but they are foreboding and satisfyingly intriguing…Charlie Heaton is a frazzled delight as Wade, who takes too many mushrooms but is also a good dude.
— Johnny Loftus, Decider

Below has the makings of an effective 90-minute creature feature, but stretching it across six parts with questionable accents, confusing plot points, and underdeveloped characters dilutes its impact.
— Joseph Robinson, Fish Jelly Film Reviews

Hartnett brings a lot of heart to Calvin, a flawed, exhausted man who is just trying to protect his family while carrying around a ton of personal trauma. He’s not some superhero, but rather a vulnerable man trying to keep it together for his family. Amongst the increasingly supernatural situation unfolding, his vulnerability brings grounded realism, making his struggle genuine…In the end, Below is an engaging thriller that has important conversations happening beyond the surface.
— Archi Sengupta, Leisure Byte

Below is most intriguing in its mysterious first half before so many of its promising elements – including David Wenham as a shadowy Australian researcher – come up bust or fail to thrill. It’s enjoyable enough, but you get the sense Below’s monster story was Frankensteined together.
— Jared Richards, The Age

Below is a captivating ride blending horror and suspense while centering our very real climate crisis. As a result, McKeown delivers a truly unique story in a well-worn genre. By examining the Penney family and the place they call home, the show addresses the fragility of life, the impermanence of place and how small we are in the universe. Moreover, the series reminds audiences that change is inevitable, and the only way to deal with it is to shift and adjust when it comes.
— Aramide Tinubu, Variety

The interweaving of aquatic horror with family drama allows Below to excel, propelling the series into a stratosphere that is beyond that of a standard creature-feature. The show is unabashed in its willingness to show Canadians’ dedication to preserving our unique ways of life, making each character feel lived-in and integral to the story…Gorgeously shot by cinematographer William Baldy, each image in the series is as lush as it is eerie, as if Baldy is trying to hypnotize viewers before ensnaring them within Snooks Arm’s welcoming demeanor. With its stunning craft and fantastic performances from Hartnett and Heaton, it’s clear that the people behind this series set out to create something wholly original, and also have a blast while doing so.
— Kaiya Shunyata, RogerEbert.com

Below charges along, driven by solid set pieces and one or two unexpected twists and turns, gaining momentum from Mark Korven’s score and an eccentric soundtrack bookended by The Waterboys’ “Fisherman’s Blues.”
— Daniel Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter

The problem with Below‘s story is that there’s just too much of it…Weaker plot elements are piled on to hit the six-episode runtime, and superfluous side characters are added in a way that suggests someone important lost faith that the monster storyline was enough….It’s not all bad, to be fair, and there are some great moments before the show’s identity crisis really kicks in. As I say, the soundtrack is very good, the atmospherics early on are great, and Hartnett plays his postmodern Chief Brody likably enough. Mackenzie Davis is also good value as the local maritime scientist investigating anomalies around the monster’s appearance, with whom [Hartnett’s characer] inevitably bonds. That core idea of a community struggling with generations of trauma, and a sort of fact-of-the-matter idea of the supernatural is genuinely great, and I am perhaps salty that everything gets torn away from that too casually.
— Simon Gallagher, ScreenRant

Below doesn’t just celebrate horror but the culture of its community setting. Filmed in St. John’s, it entertains with well-known customs like screeching and also with festivals like “Come Home Years,” wherein those who left the Rock get to return for family unity and celebration. It pays homage to the economic hardship Newfoundland has faced, but also the ties that bring families back together. The cast obviously felt the same way as indicated by the quality of the performances.
— John Kirk, Original Cin

Since the series not only takes place in Newfoundland but was also filmed there, the resulting immersiveness is as effective as dropping the viewer into the deep end, providing a definitive visual identity for a story that revolves around long-held tradition…The first half of the season is unquestionably where the show is at its strongest and scariest, from a late-night boat trip going horribly wrong to a tense submersible sequence that may trigger even the most latent claustrophobia…It’s hard not to respect a show willing to delve into bigger themes as impactful as the climate crisis and forced resettlement, but it does result in the story migrating from supernatural thriller to more of a heartfelt family drama once the creature’s origin and intention are unmasked, which may turn off some viewers who were expecting a more consistent horror throughline.
— Carly Lane, Collider

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Below is streaming now on Netflix.

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