Summary
Not only isUnder Parisdoing well on Netflix, but the movie’s impressive performance is evidence of two broader positive trends in the horror genre throughout 2024 so far. Directed byFrontier(s)helmer Xavier Gens,Under Parisis a Netflix survival thriller where a killer shark is let loose in Paris’s famous Seine River. The Seine might be too cold to house sharks and the animals may rarely enter freshwater environments, but byUnder Paris’ wild ending, viewers will have a hard time caring about logical fallacies and plot holes. While goofy,Under Parisis undeniably an effective horror.
The Netflix movie has proven that creature features are well and truly back, withUnder Parisgarnering comparisons toJawsin the weeks after its release. Plenty of critics bit back at this hype, complaining about the movie’s thin characters and silly plot contrivances. However, it is tough to deny thatUnder Parisis brutal, unpredictable, and fun despite its outlandish premise.Under Paris’ cast of charactersis less important than its gory monster movie thrills, which aligns with a promising recent trend in the horror genre. Despite their ignominious reputation, creature features are doing stellar business in 2024.
Netflix’s Under Paris Shares A Lot In Common With This Shark Movie From 16 Years Ago
Although Netflix’s Under Paris has an audaciously wild concept at its core, it’s not the first killer shark movie to somehow take place in the city.
Under Paris Is 2024’s Latest Successful Monster Movie
Netflix’s Killer Shark Movie Is Another Hit Creature Feature
Although topping the Netflix charts was a particularly impressive achievement,Under Parisis not the only original monster movie to succeed in 2024. Director Kiah Roache-Turner’s Australian spider movieStingearned an impressive 71% critics score onRotten Tomatoes, while director Sébastien Vaniček’s French spider horrorInfestedbeat this score with a staggering 95%Rotten Tomatoesrating. Although director Hayley Easton’s killer shark movieSomething in the Waterdidn’t fare quite so well with critics, the survival horror did scare up a solid $279,204 from a limited release in Mexico alone. Its upcoming UK and Russia release dates could improve on this.
All of these hits, alongside the standout success ofUnder Paris, prove that monster movies are making a comeback in 2024.Netflix’s new shark moviewill soon be followed byA Quiet Place: Day One, a prequel that is on track to become a huge box office success judging by the performance of its predecessors. Meanwhile, the $571 million success ofGodzilla x Kong: The New Empirefurther reaffirms the sub-genre’s solid standing among audiences. That said, those two Hollywood hits are missing one ingredient that the rest of 2024’s more modest monster movie successes have in common.
Under Paris Is Another Horror Hit From Outside The U.S.
Under Paris Is A French Survival Thriller
Netflix’sUnder Parisis a rare global horror hit that doesn’t come from America, much likeInfested(which is also French),Sting(Australian), andSomething In The Water(British).Under Paris’s ending revealsthat Lilith and her fellow killer great white sharks have gone global, but 2024’s monster movies set this trend before the Netflix movie arrived. Many of 2024’s big creature feature successes come from outside the US because the sub-genre doesn’t require recognizable stars or a huge budget, two typical barriers to entry that foreign movies face. This allowedUnder Paristo succeed upon release.
