Movie Review - Sous la Seine

Director: Xavier Gens
Genre: Horror/ Thriller/ Action
Runtime: 104 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Nassim Lyes, Aurélia Petit, Léa Léviant. Akesl Utsun, Marvin Dubart, Daouda Keita, Ibrahima Ba, Anne Marivin
 
Description: To save Paris from a bloodbath, a grieving scientist (Bérénice Bejo) is forced to face her tragic past when a giant shark appears in the Seine.

Review: Sharks, the horrors in the ocean that instill fear in many. They have been the fascination of filmmakers for years. To be viewed in all shapes ans sizes, from the great “Jaws” to the not-so-great “Sharknado” series. “Sous la Seine” falls in that last category I’m afraid. Entertaining but bad.

Sophia is researching a mackerel shark. When she and her crew seek out the shark, things go wrong. The shark in question, Lilith, has grown quite a bit. Unfortunately, Lilith has also taken on a temper and kills everyone but Sophia. Years later, Sophia works at an aquarium in Paris. One fateful day, Lilith is traced in the middle of the Seine river in Paris. Sophia alerts the police, but of course no one believes her.

And that’s understandable, because a shark in Paris is a non-sensical set-up. But one that can generate low-key fun. The reason why projects like this work is the fact that they don’t take themselves so seriously, and that’s where “Sous la Siene” misses the mark: its tone. It’s far too serious. It takes most of the fun out. And you do laugh, don’t get me wrong, but for the wrong reasons.

On top of that, there are some confusing themes crammed into the film without very good elaboration. Like a messy and unclear subplot about the climate crisis. A group of activists, SOS, oppose fishing and especially the killing of misunderstood sharks. They want to save Lilith, because she is misunderstood. But Lilith just happens to be a completely ruthless killing machine.

So is “Sous la Seine” exciting or even scary? No, not really. All the so-called suspense comes from people totally not listening to the very understandable advice and warnings from Sophia, who is specialized in sharks.

The film has one really brutal scene, in the catacombs of Paris, which was pretty awesome. I can’t deny that. But that’s about it. And it was entertaining, because even a bad shark movie is a fun time for me. Will there ever be a better shark movie then “Jaws”? Probably not. “Sous la Seine” most definitely isn’t.

Rating: 1,5/ 5