By Ben Wright (@Iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review is spoiler-free.
Below follows Calvin Penney (Josh Hartnett), a fisherman living in a remote Newfoundland community whose life is turned upside down when a mysterious creature begins threatening the town. As Calvin and a marine researcher try to understand what’s lurking beneath the water, the community finds itself caught up in a mystery that goes far beyond a simple monster story.
I love a good creature feature, and Below had me hooked pretty quickly. The setting is a massive part of what makes this work, with the isolation of this small fishing community adding so much to the atmosphere. There’s something about the vast, unforgiving landscape and the threat lurking beneath the water that makes the whole thing feel unsettling. The rustic surroundings and sparse habitats give the town a lived-in quality, but also make it feel like there’s nowhere to turn when things start going wrong. I loved the aesthetic, too, particularly the colour grading, which gives the series a distinctive look and really helps sell that feeling of isolation. It’s one of those shows where the setting feels just as important as the story unfolding within it.
I was also really pleased to see this kept to six episodes. There’s nothing worse than a mystery series stretching its story well beyond what it needs, and Below never really falls into that trap. Every episode moves things forward, either giving us another piece of the puzzle or leaving us with fresh questions to think about before the next instalment. The pacing is great, and I never felt like the story was spinning its wheels just to fill time. There’s a good balance between the creature-feature horror, the family drama and the mystery itself, with each element feeding into the others. I particularly liked how much the series held back in those early episodes. We get enough glimpses of the creature to keep us intrigued, but it doesn’t play its biggest cards straight away. As we learn more, the story starts taking some interesting turns, and what initially seems like a fairly straightforward threat becomes something a little more complicated.
There’s a familiar streak running through Below, especially when it comes to corporate greed and the people willing to put profit before everyone else’s safety. Anyone who’s seen Jaws will recognise some of that territory, and the series doesn’t pretend it’s reinventing the wheel. What I appreciated was how those familiar ideas feed into its wider environmental themes, with the damage humans can inflict on the natural world becoming increasingly important as the mystery develops. There’s also plenty about family, community and the struggle to preserve a way of life in a place that already feels forgotten by the outside world. It gives the story more to chew on than simply wondering what the creature is and who’s going to encounter it next. For all its familiar influences, Below manages to make the most of its setting and build something that feels like its own.
The cast are great across the board, although Josh Hartnett took a little getting used to for me. His Newfoundland dialect is quite distinctive, but once I settled into it, I bought into his performance. Seeing him playing a father and fisherman rather than the heartthrob lead I remember from years ago was also a bit of a reality check. When did that happen? Am I really getting that old? Anyway, Hartnett is really good here, and Mackenzie Davis is just as strong in the lead ensemble. There’s a subtlety to her performance that I particularly enjoyed, and she gives the series a compelling centre. Charlie Heaton continues to show there’s life beyond Stranger Things, while Ruby Stokes, Kaleb Horn, Rohan Campbell and Willow Kean all do a great job of making this isolated community feel like it’s populated by real people rather than just a collection of characters waiting for their turn in the story. David Wenham is another welcome addition, and his guest appearance is excellent. He has a way of commanding your attention whenever he’s on screen, and I was always happy to see him turn up.
There are plenty of twists along the way, and the series does a good job of keeping the mystery alive without making everything needlessly complicated. The combination of horror, science fiction and drama makes for an entertaining six episodes, and I was genuinely keen to see where it was all heading. The CGI can be a little noticeable at times, which is a shame because so much of the visual presentation works brilliantly, but it never really spoiled things for me. I was too invested in the story to let a few less convincing effects get in the way.
What I liked most is that Below actually feels like a complete story. The finale gives things a proper sense of finality, so I wouldn’t be disappointed if this really is the end. That said, I can see the potential for Netflix to revisit this world if the series finds an audience, and there are certainly characters and ideas that could be explored further. I’d happily watch more, but I’m equally happy with what we’ve got. Not every show needs to come back for another season, and sometimes six episodes that leave you satisfied are more than enough.
Below is a thoroughly entertaining creature-feature series, with a brilliant sense of isolation, a great cast and a mystery that kept me hooked throughout. The odd dodgy CGI moment aside, I had a great time with it, and I wouldn’t mind spending more time in this world if Netflix decides to return to it.
