Movie: Under Paris (Sous la Seine)
Cast: Bérénice Bejo, Nassim Lyes, Léa Léviant
Director: Xavier Gens
Rating: 2/5
Duration: 101 minutes
Imagine a river infested with sharks… ‘Under Paris’ wants you to believe in that flimsy and improbable premise. Director Xavier Gens, who is credited with the script along with Yannick Dahan and Maud Heywang, which in turn is based on a plan by Yaël Langmann and Olivier Torres, who in turn adapted the idea of Edouard Duprey and Sébastien Auscher, They ruin everything. I didn’t think it would take so many ideas, creators and writers to make something so boring and forgettable.
The opening sequence shows an entire research group terrorized and devoured by a shark. Sophia (Bérénice Bejo), the husband of the brilliant marine scientist, was one of the victims of the first shark attack.
Coincidentally, much later, she learns from a young environmental activist, Mika (Léa Léviant), that the shark monster in question that killed her husband now resides in the Seine. To make things more intense, Paris is about to host a massive triathlon race that also includes swimming in the Seine.
Sophia and Mika then join police sergeant Adil (Nassim Lyes) to ensure that the participants do not come to harm. But it obviously won’t be a done deal.
The deep immersion in ecoterrorism and politics brings a faint relief. There is hardly any tension or horror and the frenetic editing does not allow for constant participation.
The opening sequence is pretty effective, but after that there’s not much to be terrified of.
First, the risky nature of the story idea itself makes credibility impossible. The river is too small for so many things to happen in its middle. The sharks look fake, the effects are tacky, and aside from the beauty of Paris, the cinematography has nothing distinctive to show. Although it carries the card of saving the environment, the hodgepodge of ideas and tones fails to become a coherent whole. If we add to that bland and uninteresting characters, uninspired performances and poor writing full of clichés, the summary is, to say the least, disappointing. At best, this is a mediocre and unsatisfying thriller.