What to know
- ‘Below’ had its world premiere at TIFF, with its first two episodes screening ahead of its Oct. 8 Netflix release.
- The limited series follows a family in the fictional Newfoundland village of Snook’s Arm, where strange events begin occurring in the surrounding waters.
- The mystery involves a mysterious sea creature, a strange iceberg and a series of disappearances.
- The series also explores political conflict within the community as residents decide whether to accept a government incentive to relocate.
- The first two episodes leave plenty of unanswered questions, setting up the mystery for the rest of the series.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This review contains spoilers of the first two episodes of Netflix’s limited series Below.
Combining sea creatures, charismatic characters, political conflict, and engaging familiar challenges, Below has everything to be Netflix’s newest horror hit.
What makes for a good horror series? For some, it might be the hair-raising jumpscare moments, or that eerie feeling that something bad is about to happen, or even the dark aesthetic and ominous soundtrack. For me, it’s the involvement with the characters and their world, and an eagerness to find out what is going to happen next. But lucky for all of us, Below appears to include all of these elements and more.
The upcoming limited series had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), with its two first episodes being presented to the public ahead of its official release on Netflix on Oct. 8.
Episode One
The series is set in a small coastal village in Newfoundland, Snook’s Arm, where commercial fishery and ice harvesting drive the economy, mainly following the story of local Calvin Penney (played by Josh Hartnett) and his family.
The first episode sets the scene for the main mystery of the series, beginning with a flashback to a 1986 incident, in which Calvin, his sister Ruth (played by Willow Kean), his mother, and a government worker witness as his father and an entire house appear to be swallowed whole by something in the water. Although what exactly took them isn’t clear, Calvin appears to be haunted by the incident decades later.
In modern days, the stubborn fisherman continues to live in Snook’s Arm along with Ruth, and his son Wade (played by Charlie Heaton). Calvin also receives the visit of his other children, Jay (played by Rohan Campbell), and Mary (played by Ruby Stokes) and her Montreal-based boyfriend Noah (played by Kaleb Horn), who have moved away from the coastal town.
Although the family seems to be somewhat in unison, it is clear that there is a disconnect between each member, especially between Calvin and his children, especially as Mary and Jay have left the coastal village to live in the mainland.
Meanwhile, residents of the village face an important political decision, as they need to vote on a government initiative that offers them a grand cash incentive to relocate to a different city. The incoming vote creates a divide between those who want the much-needed support and those who would rather remain in their homes, as it now requires 70 per cent of approval to be carried through.
The main mystery of the story already kicks off in the first episode, when a series of smaller unusual things start happening.
First, Calvin harvests a piece of “bad ice,” part of an iceberg that carries a strong ammonia smell, which he takes to Fonda Howander (played by Mackenzie Davis), a scientist at the Ocean Science Centre. By analyzing the sample, Howander finds that the ice is close to 10,000 years old, and appears to be covered in a strange frozen mucus membrane. The science centre also learns about a flamingo that randomly fell on top of a resident’s roof, even though the bird is not commonly found in the area.
Later on, an entire iceberg appears near the village overnight with no explanation. The ice also appears to be covered in the same smell and strange mucus found on the piece Calvin first harvested.
In addition, the village is currently dealing with another mystery: a group of Portuguese tourists appeared to have disappeared in the area.
At the end of this episode, Wade goes out on the water with another fisherman. As the two attempt to harvest a large piece of ice from the water, their boat is attacked by a mysterious creature. This is one of the most violent action scenes in the series thus far, and ends with the boat getting destroyed and the fisherman’s body getting cut in half by a wire.
For me, one of the most important elements of any series is creating an involvement with that setting and those characters that almost makes you feel like you’re a part of it. While it might be harder to achieve this through a solo-standing film, series often are able to get there. The scenery and charismatic characters of Snook’s Arm and the Penney family definitely contributed to this feel. By the end of the first episode, I already found myself involved in the family drama, and eager to learn more about each individual character, while feeling like they all have their own individual personalities and separate lives that often clash.
As a thriller fan, this first episode was a great teaser to what would come next. It is a great teaser for the main mystery, while still leaving a lot to be discovered in the following episodes. At the same time that the series appears to include elements from other well-known classics like Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, the story definitely felt original and fresh.
Episode 2
After witnessing the gory incident at the boat, Wade is traumatized by what he saw in the water, which appears to have been the same thing Calvin originally saw when his father got killed.
The character spends most of his episode extremely jumpy and hiding away in his bedroom, while Calvin finds a mysterious round mark in his back.
Meanwhile, local authorities investigate the boat incident, looking around to find the other half of the fisherman, which remains unfound. Instead, Calvin finds a moose head, which appears to have been half digested by a sea animal.
Looking for answers, Calvin seeks Fonda’s help, and two find out through security footage that both the moose and two tourists appeared to have been eaten by the mysterious sea creature, which seems to be an enormous squid.
Sea mystery aside, some supernatural elements are also introduced in this portion of the movie. Wade appears to dream about a woman-like figure, who looks like a coastal version of Samara Morgan from horror classic The Ring. This creature appears on top of the newly discovered iceberg near the village and seems to be chasing after Wade into his room. Although when he wakes up, she isn’t there, a water puddle appears near the bed.
The same mysterious creature is also hinted to be behind the disappearance of the missing Portuguese tourists, as one of them appears to have had one of his feet cut off by it.
The more eventful second episode appears to end as any good mystery series: with more questions to be answered. Between Wade’s strange behaviour and unexplained dreams, the town’s ongoing political conflict, this new mysterious creature, and Calvin and Fonda’s investigation, the plot is filled with different elements to be uncovered.
The engaging and eerie atmosphere of the first two episodes is accompanied by showrunner Jesse McKeown’s and director Jamie Childs’ original storytelling, and the cast’s outstanding performance that makes the viewer feel like they are a part of that world.
By the end of the two first episodes, I definitely left craving more, and looking forward to the series’ official release on Oct. 8.
