Under Paris is a gripping French horror thriller that follows the harrowing journey of seasoned diver Sophia Assalas.
Set against the backdrop of an impending triathlon event in Paris, the film focus on the city’s iconic Seine River that harbors a massive, evolved shark named Lilith.
It is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
The narrative begins with Sophia and her husband, Chris Assalas, leading an expedition into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a colossal expanse of plastic waste spanning hundreds of thousands of kilometers.
Accompanied by a team of divers, including Chris, the couple’s mission takes a dark turn when they descend to examine a tagged shark.
Amidst their investigation, they discover a baby sperm whale caught in a net, its stomach filled with plastic.
As the team navigates these waters, they shockingly encounter a group of ten female sharks exhibiting peculiar, pack-like behavior, which is highly unusual as sharks typically do not hunt in packs.
Among these sharks is their tagged subject, Lilith, now nearly seven meters long—a staggering growth spurt from the 2.5 meters she measured just three months prior.
Chris, alarmed by the situation, wishes to ascend, but Sophia urges him to collect a sample from Lilith to study the bizarre growth phenomenon.
In a fateful moment, Chris stabs Lilith with an instrument to obtain the sample, triggering an aggressive attack from the sharks.
Amid the chaos, Sophia discovers Chris’s severed arm and faces Lilith, shooting a harpoon at the enormous shark.
The encounter escalates as Lilith dives, dragging Sophia down with her as her line gets entangled in a net.
Sophia manages to release herself and swim to safety, though she ruptures an eardrum from the pressure.
The scene shifts to Paris, where the Seine River Police are briefed on an upcoming triathlon event set to draw international attention.
Sophia, now working in an aquarium and grappling with the trauma of losing her team and husband, is approached by a young girl named Mika.
Mika claims she knows the whereabouts of Lilith. Initially skeptical, Sophia follows Mika and learns about SOS (Save Our Seas), a secret group committed to the mission Sophia once led.
They reveal the startling truth: Lilith has swum all the way to Paris and is now in the Seine River, an environment completely alien to her species.
Mika and her girlfriend, Ben, plan to dive into the river that night to communicate with the shark using sonar.
Sophia, believing them to be reckless, leaves but later verifies that Lilith is indeed in Paris.
As Mika dives, she discovers a car in the river marked by shark teeth, supporting her theory that Lilith has been attacking locals.
A police patrol boat appears, and Ben signals Mika to ascend, but she disconnects her rope instead. Spotting Lilith, Mika surfaces just in time but is apprehended by the police.
Sophia rushes to the scene and joins the river police, led by Sergeant Adil Faez, in confirming the shark’s presence.
The body of a recent car accident victim shows signs of a shark attack, affirming Sophia’s fears.
The river police chief decides to keep the shark’s presence under wraps to avoid canceling the triathlon, despite the escalating danger.
Sophia proposes a plan to bait and tranquilize Lilith for transfer to the Oceanography Institute.
However, Mika broadcasts the situation on social media, urging public action to protect Lilith, thus complicating the authorities’ efforts.
As tensions rise, the police, Sophia, and the mayor clash over how to handle the situation.
The mayor is primarily concerned with the triathlon’s success, which is crucial for Paris’s bid to host future Olympic events.
Despite the danger, she demands the shark be discreetly dealt with.
Concurrently, Ben reveals that Mika’s reckless actions have rallied many to sabotage the police operation, heightening the stakes.
Sophia and the police prepare to execute their plan to capture Lilith, but Mika remains convinced that using sonar to guide Lilith back to the ocean is the solution.
Ending explained
A new species
Adil, Sophia, and a police team confront the SOS activists in the city’s catacombs, urging them to stay out of the water.
Defiantly, Mika stays in the river as Lilith and a smaller shark appear.
In the ensuing chaos, Lilith kills Mika, sparking mass panic. Ben is also killed, and many others fall into the river, suffering injuries or worse at the hands of the sharks.
In the aftermath, Sophia examines the smaller shark and makes a shocking discovery: despite being only two months old, the shark was pregnant, indicating that Lilith is reproducing through parthenogenesis.
This revelation points to a potentially devastating future where this new species—evolved to adapt to a new environment—could multiply unchecked.
The mayor, still intent on holding the triathlon, removes the river police from the case and assigns protection to the military.
Destroying the nest
Undeterred, Adil, Sophia, and a select team plan to destroy the sharks’ nest to prevent the new species from reaching the ocean.
As the triathlon commences, they dive into the catacombs and plant explosives.
The operation turns perilous when the sharks (dozens of them) attack.
In a desperate act, one team member detonates the charges, sacrificing himself. Adil and Sophia narrowly escape.
Paris under water
Lilith survives the explosion, attacking and capsizing the police boat before breaking through the triathlon perimeter, creating havoc among the participants.
The media and officials finally witness the monstrous shark as she kills more people.
Military boats arrive, opening fire despite warnings about the live shells from wartime still present in the river.
The resulting explosions flood the city, causing widespread devastation.
In the film’s climax, Sophia and Adil find themselves surrounded by sharks on a barely visible rooftop.
The camera pans out, revealing a Paris submerged and infested with these deadly predators, leaving the fate of the city hanging in suspense as the screen cuts to black.
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