Under Paris: The Mutant Shark Thriller in the Seine Is Streaming Now on Netflix

There is a tradition of great monster movies that identify something specific to dread in the specific anxieties of their time — Jaws and the American vacation, Godzilla and nuclear devastation, Cloverfield and post-9/11 collective trauma. Under Paris (Sous la Seine) adds to this tradition with a premise both completely absurd and somehow perfectly attuned to contemporary anxieties: a mutant shark — huge, intelligent, and deeply angry — is living in the River Seine beneath the streets of Paris, and the city is about to host a triathlon in those waters.

Directed by Xavier Gens (Frontière(s), The Divide), Under Paris commits to its premise with the confidence of a filmmaker who understands exactly the genre he is operating in — and exactly how to transcend it.

The Story: A Very Bad Day for Paris Tourism

Marine scientist Sophia knows that shark. She encountered it in the open ocean years earlier, losing colleagues in the process, and has spent the time since studying its behavior and patterns. When evidence emerges that the shark has somehow made its way into the Seine — an act that should biologically be impossible — she is the only person who fully understands what this means.

The problem is that Paris's city officials don't want to know, because the triathlon — tens of thousands of athletes, international spectators, enormous economic significance — is days away. The film skillfully deploys the classic monster-movie tension between those who know the danger and those who have too much invested in denying it.

Where Under Paris distinguishes itself is in its willingness to take its implications seriously. This is not a film that lets its heroes make a heroic speech and have everything resolved. It commits to consequences with a specificity and darkness that is genuinely striking for what might initially appear to be a summer entertainment.

Visual Spectacle and Practical Effects

The shark sequences in Under Paris are extraordinary — combining practical effects, CGI, and underwater photography to create something that feels genuinely terrifying. The Paris setting provides iconic visual opportunities that Gens exploits masterfully: the Seine at night, the city's famous bridges, the catacomb network beneath the streets adding layers of claustrophobic dread to what is already an intense scenario.

A French Blockbuster With Genuine Ambition

Under Paris has been one of Netflix's most-watched films of 2024-2025, reaching audiences in countries well beyond France and demonstrating that French-language genre cinema can compete at the absolute highest international level when given the resources and creative freedom to do so.

Where to Watch

Under Paris is streaming on Netflix globally.

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