# Under Paris

**Under Paris** (French: *Sous la Seine*) is a 2024 French action-horror disaster film directed by Xavier Gens, in which a mutated shark takes up residence in the Seine days before Paris hosts the World Triathlon Championships<sup>[1](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/under-paris-release-date-news)</sup>. It was released on Netflix on June 5, 2024, runs 101 minutes, and stars [Bérénice Bejo](https://www.edgepedia.org/berenice-bejo) as marine biologist Sophia Assalas, Nassim Lyes as river police commander Adil, and Léa Léviant as the environmental activist Mika<sup>[1](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/under-paris-release-date-news)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://mulderville.net/fr/critiques/6427/sous-la-seine)</sup>.

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Netflix worldwide, June 5, 2024; 101 minutes<sup>[1](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/under-paris-release-date-news)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://mulderville.net/fr/critiques/6427/sous-la-seine)</sup> |
| Director and writers | Xavier Gens, co-writing with Yannick Dahan, Maud Heywang, Yaël Langmann, and Olivier Torres, from an idea by producers Édouard Duprey and Sébastien Auscher<sup>[3](https://www.freneticarts.com/sous-la-seine-dossier-de-presse/)</sup> |
| Antagonist | Lilith, a mutated shortfin mako shark eight meters long<sup>[4](https://www.timeout.com/news/under-paris-could-the-new-shark-flick-actually-happen-in-real-life-061024)</sup> |
| Audience reach | Number one on Netflix in more than 85 countries per FlixPatrol; over 40 million views in its first week and about 100 million viewers reported since release<sup>[5](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D1000085887.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/66f3cae337cbbb483cfd0233/68158aa84b6a026a881d9ac1_4404279101.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.freneticarts.com/sous-la-seine-dossier-de-presse/)</sup> |
| Critical reception | Mixed: a 63% Rotten Tomatoes score, with French critics largely negative and audience reactions divided<sup>[7](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/sequel-to-netflixs-divisive-shark-horror-hit-under-paris-finds-director-in-the-hills-have-eyes-and-crawl-helmer/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/culture/article/sous-la-seine-sur-netflix-les-critiques-francaises-et-anglophones-ne-sont-absolument-pas-d-accord-sur-le-film_235150.html)</sup> |
| Sequel | Under Paris 2, to be directed by French filmmaker Alexandre Aja<sup>[7](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/sequel-to-netflixs-divisive-shark-horror-hit-under-paris-finds-director-in-the-hills-have-eyes-and-crawl-helmer/)</sup> |

## Spoilers

### Plot

Summer 2024: Paris is hosting the World Triathlon Championships on the Seine for the first time. Sophia, a scientist grieving a past tragedy, learns from Mika, a young environmental activist, that a large shark is swimming deep in the river. To avoid a bloodbath at the heart of the city, they join forces with Adil, the Seine river police commander<sup>[1](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/under-paris-release-date-news)</sup>.

The backstory places the opening in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where a shark named Lilith kills Sophia's husband and research colleagues during a mission to chart the impact of plastic pollution on shark behavior<sup>[4](https://www.timeout.com/news/under-paris-could-the-new-shark-flick-actually-happen-in-real-life-061024)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/06/05/avec-sous-la-seine-xavier-gens-realise-les-dents-de-la-maire_6237516_3246.html)</sup>. Three years later Lilith has crossed the Pacific and Indian Oceans, rounded the [Cape of Good Hope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-of-good-hope), and entered the Seine, where she has settled in the river's underwater catacombs<sup>[9](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/06/05/avec-sous-la-seine-xavier-gens-realise-les-dents-de-la-maire_6237516_3246.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.timeout.com/news/under-paris-could-the-new-shark-flick-actually-happen-in-real-life-061024)</sup>. The film's central twist is that Lilith has reproduced on her own, and her offspring are at large in the river as the triathlon approaches<sup>[4](https://www.timeout.com/news/under-paris-could-the-new-shark-flick-actually-happen-in-real-life-061024)</sup>.

### Sequel

Netflix moved forward with a sequel, *Under Paris 2*, with the French director [Alexandre Aja](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandre-aja), known for *Piranha 3D* (2010) and *Crawl* (2019), attached to direct<sup>[7](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/sequel-to-netflixs-divisive-shark-horror-hit-under-paris-finds-director-in-the-hills-have-eyes-and-crawl-helmer/)</sup>.

## Production

The project began about seven years before release, when producers Edouard Duprey and Sébastien Auscher asked Xavier Gens to develop their idea of a shark film in the Seine<sup>[10](https://www.mpcvfx.com/fr/news/les-dessous-de-sous-la-seine/)</sup>. Gens, whose directorial credits include *Farang* and episodes of *Gangs of London* and *Lupin*, has said that [Steven Spielberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-spielberg)'s *Jaws* (1975) gave him the desire to work in cinema and remains his number one film<sup>[10](https://www.mpcvfx.com/fr/news/les-dessous-de-sous-la-seine/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-313341/secrets-tournage/)</sup>. Unlike *Jaws*, he said he did not want to demonize the animal and instead drew on *King Kong*, seeking empathy for a creature threatened by humans<sup>[10](https://www.mpcvfx.com/fr/news/les-dessous-de-sous-la-seine/)</sup>.

**Visual effects.** The eight-meter Lilith could not be filmed in the river, so the French office of the effects company MPC created her digitally in Paris. A team of 150 people modeled her skeleton, skin, scars, and the water's reflections from July 2023 to April 2024, producing 288 digital shark shots<sup>[10](https://www.mpcvfx.com/fr/news/les-dessous-de-sous-la-seine/)</sup>. The practical-effects studio Studio 69 built a fully autonomous animatronic shark realistic enough to unsettle the crew, and devised a "washing machine" rig that gave the underwater camera circular movement during explosion scenes<sup>[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-313341/secrets-tournage/)</sup>.

**Locations.** The film used the real Seine only for scenes on boats and the quays. Because of heavy river traffic, the open-water surface scenes were shot instead at the Luz studio in Alicante, Spain<sup>[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-313341/secrets-tournage/)</sup>.

A timing coincidence helped the film's publicity: when the script was written, the Seine had not yet been announced as the Paris 2024 triathlon venue. Actor Nassim Lyes commented that "fiction has totally caught up with reality"<sup>[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-313341/secrets-tournage/)</sup>.

## Reception and scientific accuracy

Audience response was strong: FlixPatrol placed the film first on Netflix in more than 85 countries, and it topped the platform's non-English-language film list<sup>[5](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D1000085887.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/sequel-to-netflixs-divisive-shark-horror-hit-under-paris-finds-director-in-the-hills-have-eyes-and-crawl-helmer/)</sup>. Critics were divided along language lines. French reviews were largely negative: *Première* concluded it was not a good film, and *Le Parisien* called it a "nanar" (a trashy clunker)<sup>[12](https://www.premiere.fr/Cinema/News-Cinema/Sous-la-Seine-fait-un-gros-plouf--critique)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/series/sous-la-seine-sur-netflix-mais-cest-quoi-ce-nanar-avec-un-requin-en-plein-paris-04-06-2024-KJG6ANNFINEIVEFSAWTMHZCQ34.php)</sup>. Some reviewers praised the spectacle: Mulderville rated it 8/10 and called it an undeniable success in shark horror, while *Le Monde* noted that the film's final act propels the story into a farcical register that subjects Paris to a fate that would not have displeased Attila the Hun<sup>[2](https://mulderville.net/fr/critiques/6427/sous-la-seine)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[14](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/06/07/under-paris-the-new-jaws-in-freshwater_6674064_30.html)</sup>.

**Marine biologists' verdict.** Experts consulted after release found the premise biologically impossible. Paul Abaut and Armelle Jung, marine biologists with the shark-conservation association Des Requins et des Hommes, pointed out that the shortfin mako is a pelagic, ocean-going species that lives in salt water and would not survive in the Seine's freshwater<sup>[5](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D1000085887.html)</sup>. Corentin Garde-Lansard of the Paris Aquarium explained that a shark in fresh water would lack sufficient salt within a few meters and could no longer breathe, making the journey to Paris impossible<sup>[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-313341/secrets-tournage/)</sup>. James Wright, senior curator at SEA LIFE London Aquarium, told *Time Out* that "there's as much scientific fact in this film as there is in *Aliens*": makos never approach seven meters, are fast visual predators that avoid murky rivers, and would not charge into a crowd of swimmers<sup>[4](https://www.timeout.com/news/under-paris-could-the-new-shark-flick-actually-happen-in-real-life-061024)</sup>. One element does have a basis in reality: asexual reproduction by sharks through parthenogenesis is known in lower vertebrates, so Lilith's self-produced brood is not science fiction<sup>[4](https://www.timeout.com/news/under-paris-could-the-new-shark-flick-actually-happen-in-real-life-061024)</sup>.

## Legal dispute

Before release, the film's producers were sued by the French director Vincent Dietschy, who accused them of copying the script of his unmade project *Silure*, about a killer fish in the Seine<sup>[15](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/our-times/article/2024/06/03/the-creatures-of-the-deep-that-could-sink-olympic-swimming-in-the-seine_6673632_39.html)</sup>. According to *Le Monde*, Dietschy had discussed financing with the production company Adéquat in 2015, the same year Auscher and Duprey began developing *Sous la Seine*; Dietschy later turned his experience into the film *Notre histoire (Jean, Stacy et les autres)*, about a director whose project never gets made<sup>[16](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/cinema/article/2024/04/06/killer-fish-in-the-seine-a-french-director-battles-netflix-over-paris-thriller-script_6667525_31.html)</sup>.

## References

1. [Under Paris, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/under-paris-release-date-news)
2. [Sous la Seine, Mulderville.net](https://mulderville.net/fr/critiques/6427/sous-la-seine)
3. [Sous la Seine : dossier de presse, Frenetic Arts](https://www.freneticarts.com/sous-la-seine-dossier-de-presse/)
4. [Under Paris: Could this Shark Attack Movie Happen IRL?, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/news/under-paris-could-the-new-shark-flick-actually-happen-in-real-life-061024)
5. [Un requin peut-il vraiment survivre dans la Seine ?, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle%3D1000085887.html)
6. [Under Paris parents guide (viewer statistics compilation)](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/66f3cae337cbbb483cfd0233/68158aa84b6a026a881d9ac1_4404279101.pdf)
7. [Sequel to Netflix's divisive shark horror hit Under Paris finds director, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/sequel-to-netflixs-divisive-shark-horror-hit-under-paris-finds-director-in-the-hills-have-eyes-and-crawl-helmer/)
8. [« Sous la Seine » sur Netflix : les critiques françaises et anglophones ne sont pas d'accord, HuffPost](https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/culture/article/sous-la-seine-sur-netflix-les-critiques-francaises-et-anglophones-ne-sont-absolument-pas-d-accord-sur-le-film_235150.html)
9. [Avec « Sous la Seine », Xavier Gens réalise les dents de la maire, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2024/06/05/avec-sous-la-seine-xavier-gens-realise-les-dents-de-la-maire_6237516_3246.html)
10. [Le Parisien | Les dessous de "Sous la Seine", MPC Paris](https://www.mpcvfx.com/fr/news/les-dessous-de-sous-la-seine/)
11. [Anecdotes du film Sous la Seine, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-313341/secrets-tournage/)
12. [Sous la Seine fait un gros plouf [critique], Première](https://www.premiere.fr/Cinema/News-Cinema/Sous-la-Seine-fait-un-gros-plouf--critique)
13. [« Sous la Seine » sur Netflix : mais c'est quoi ce nanar avec un requin en plein Paris ?, Le Parisien](https://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/series/sous-la-seine-sur-netflix-mais-cest-quoi-ce-nanar-avec-un-requin-en-plein-paris-04-06-2024-KJG6ANNFINEIVEFSAWTMHZCQ34.php)
14. ['Under Paris': The new 'Jaws' in freshwater, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/article/2024/06/07/under-paris-the-new-jaws-in-freshwater_6674064_30.html)
15. [The creatures of the deep that could sink Olympic swimming in the Seine, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/our-times/article/2024/06/03/the-creatures-of-the-deep-that-could-sink-olympic-swimming-in-the-seine_6673632_39.html)
16. [Killer fish in the Seine: A French director battles Netflix over Paris thriller script, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/cinema/article/2024/04/06/killer-fish-in-the-seine-a-french-director-battles-netflix-over-paris-thriller-script_6667525_31.html)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Disaster films*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license