With 41 million views in its first five days, a new film on Netflix has become one of the most popular non-English films ever.
Social media users are going crazy about the terrifying action, with one user writing: “It has absolutely no right to be as good as it is. This creature features goodness through and through. The catacombs scene, my god 10/10 anxiety-inducing horror.”
Another adds: “It is legit the most fun with a movie so far this year!”
“Honestly can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a Netflix original this much,” someone else comments.
A fourth writes: “I loved this movie so so so much. It had an amazing story and is now my favorite shark horror movie ever.”
Even the “King of Horror,” Stephen King, has praised the film. In a tweet, he said that he had anticipated the film “to be a jokey movie, like Sharknado, but Twitter convinced me to give it a watch, and it’s really quite good.” The last twenty-five minutes were incredible.
According to the movie’s description, “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.”
Before Netflix got on board, the French director of the movie, Xavier Gens, said to Variety that the project ‘was turned down by French studios and financiers before Netflix came on board.’
He claims that in addition to being funny, the film features political satire in the vein of the well-known motion picture Don’t Look Up.
Political figures who assert that the Olympics will bring people together are mentioned by Gens, who continues, “The games are surrounded by hypocrisy and a commercial ideology.”
The director elaborates: “The whole idea was to take what we observe in French society and from politicians and caricature some of it. The funny thing is that all the dialogue in the film is pulled from actual speeches and comments made by different political figures.”
The horror action in the movie is receiving praise from critics, despite its low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.2/10 on IMDb.
Empire Magazine’s Ben Travis writes: “A solid shark thriller whose admirable but clunky eco-warnings almost get in the way of a good time. Best when it allows itself to really go in-Seine.”
“This is killer shark horror/thriller done right across the board, from money well spent on CG to a cast and crew locked in and ready to create a seriously fun tale of nature gone amok with an assist from our own poor ecological choices,” says Rob Hunter of Film School Rejects.
“The team works up a terrific series of action sequences which feel like hand-to-hand combat between the police and the shark. Berenice Bejo is very persuasive, and Nassim Lyes is a genuine star. The action is fierce and very, very brutal and bloody.” writes Screen Anarchy’s Peter Martin.
Hints of a follow-up to the popular Netflix original movie suggest that moviegoers may not have to wait long for more.
Variety asked Gens if an Under Paris 2 was in the works, and he responded, ” There’s a chance that we’ll be discussing it soon. If there is a sequel, it will take place in a Paris that is entirely submerged under water.”
Hopefully, in the future, our TVs will be treated to more shark attacks in Paris.
