Below: Netflix's Messy Monster Series Is More Scooby-Doo Than Widow's Bay | Review

Credit: Jan Thijs/Netflix Josh Hartnett's new supernatural mystery series takes in Stephen King, South Korean monster movies and Stranger Things, but never quite finds balance. Published Oct 8, 2026, 3:01 AM EDT Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic. After the huge success of Apple's Widow's Bay, it should come as no surprise that Netflix's own supernatural coastal mystery series Below is being presented as the next best thing for fans. There are certainly some similarities, but you should be wary of expecting too much from Josh Hartnett's new 6-part show. Created by Jesse McKeown, who has writing credits on the likes of The Umbrella Academy, 19-2, and Letterkenny, Below aspires to be a monster story in the grandest movie tradition: allegorical, political, and ecological as well, of course, as horror-aligned. It’s sold as a “what lies beneath” sort of mystery, and the early episodes could actually pass for an extended X-Files arc, which is where I found the most enjoyment. But it's also a lot more than you might expect from its surprisingly quiet marketing campaign, and not always for the better. Hartnett plays Calvin Penney, a widowed fisherman in a community no longer allowed to fish, struggling to survive as the townsfolk weigh up an offer to relocate for thousands of dollars. He has three adult children (played by Charlie Heaton, Rohan Campbell, and Ruby Stokes), who all seem to both idolize and be exasperated by his commitment to the past. He wrestles with the ghosts of his father's death and a looming shadow of emasculation, while forced to reckon with dangers within the sea that he feels so drawn to suddenly trying to kill people. ...Part Stephen King, and part David Lynch, and fans looking for a Stranger Things replacement will find some solace here... Confidently shot, and clearly aware of its generic responsibilities, Below is a late-stage capitalism anxiety dream that feels both rooted in McKeown's sense of national, Canadian identity, and also in South Korean monster movies. It's part Stephen King, and part David Lynch, and fans looking for a Stranger Things replacement will find some solace here for a while. It has a great elevator pitch, and I dearly wish it were as good as it sounds. Sometimes it is. Often, it's not. Below Starts Like An X-Files Monster Movie Mash-Up (Complimentary) Below's setting is perfect for a small rural horror: an isolated, idiosyncratic community, so cut off that it’s basically timeless, where the locals don’t so much believe in mythology as live it. You get the faintest outlines of an almost Lynchian disquiet. The landscape is harsh and effortlessly atmospheric in the way only remote places can be, and Below's characters are hardy and charismatic. There’s also a bit of a Jaws spirit to the caricatures and the oblivious reception to their monstrous tormentor, which is knowing enough to avoid feeling like hollow copying. The Important Subtexts rear their heads very quickly, and listing them goes some way to explaining the aim for depth. First, the community is on the verge of extinction, both because of vanishing maritime industries (they harvest ice, but rely on scraps of wandering icebergs). Then there’s Hartnett’s own traumatic past that brings personal investment with the monster. On top of that, there’s his almost estranged relationships with two of his adult kids, who have moved away, and a third (played by Charlie Heaton), which is strained in a terribly Oedipal way. Professional anxiety manifests as the overreaching, shady corporation types who are trying to relocate the residents for their own good. (Big non-spoiler asterisks there obviously.) People then start to die grizzly deaths, attacked by some unknown monster, and half the town is overcome by a mystery illness that feels a little like it's been stolen from The Crazies, with a raging thirst leading them to try and drown themselves. You’d think that would be enough to balance, especially when the “monster attacks small community and salt-hardened fisherman must protect what he values” story is solid. But there is a lot more that keeps piling on and dragging you away from the central premise like an irresistible tide. You cannot knock McKeown for trying to address a lot of grand ideas: corporate greed, ecological damage, generational trauma, familial deception... But picking a lane is often an underrated creative choice. Below Throws In Too Many Ideas & Loses Its Identity Quickly The problem with Below's story is that there’s just too much of it. At one point, about halfway through, there’s an incredibly odd "cabin in the woods horror"-like diversion that comes completely out of nowhere that I don't know if I'll ever understand. 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. Annoyingly, I disagree, but it's done now. ..there's one gaping plot hole that is so fundamental to the plot that it’s embarrassing. I grew increasingly frustrated as the mystery box turned into a mystery Russian nesting doll, with the core idea getting increasingly smaller as layers were added on and peeled off. That also led to some sloppy missteps, where interesting characters are pushed to the side or brought in and then dispensed with too quickly. Honestly, by the time it wraps up, there's one gaping plot hole that is so fundamental to the plot that it’s embarrassing, and one unfairly unresolved plot point that feels like you're shepherded away by the story while you're still invested in what's happening. The breathless pace of revelations and inferior side adventures is just fatally distracting. By the time you get to the ending, through some excellent soundtrack choices and lots of scenarios designed to dial the pressure up (that don’t all work), the original genre of the series has long been forgotten. I’m avoiding spoilers here, but the Godzilla parallels are very difficult to avoid, and there’s an unfortunately sappy final note that even the hardiest fans will roll their eyes at. I can't avoid admitting that I have some issues with Charlie Heaton’s decision to play Hartnett’s Newfoundland son with a straight, conventional Irish accent instead of the region’s delightful singsong of ancient Irish and modern Canadian (there’s a fair amount of Shoresy on display). Heaton’s Wade is actually a great character, and his performance is generally strong, but he sounds a lot like he's never actually heard a Canadian speak and instead lives on a farm in deepest Ireland. He's also one of the characters cut a little too loose as the story progresses, and more villains are introduced. I will also say, around 60% of the way through, you'll get some serious Scooby-Doo vibes. 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 Penney 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. All 6 episodes of Below will be released on Netflix on October 8. Below 5/10 Release Date October 8, 2026 Network Netflix Showrunner Jesse McKeown Directors Jamie Childs, Stephen Dunn, Helen Shaver Cast Mackenzie Davis Fonda Howander Pros & Cons Excellent atmosphere building. Great cast and performances. The core monster story is gripping. Too many superfluous side plots and characters. Gaping plot holes and unsatisfyingly resolved story threads. A major lack of story balance. Inconsistent accents.