Beneath (2013 film)

Plot

Six high school seniors—Johnny, Zeke, Kitty, her friend Deb, Kitty's boyfriend Matt, and Matt's brother Simon—visit a secluded lake for a final day together. Johnny meets Mr. Parks, a friend of his grandfather, who warns him to be careful. Johnny promises respect, but the others cause disturbances in the boat. An unknown object touches them underwater.

They try to row back but lose an oar; when Deb reaches for it, a giant fish bites her and she bleeds to death. The fish destroys the remaining oar, and the group throws Deb's body overboard as a distraction, which fails. Kitty accuses Johnny of knowing about the fish because he gave her a protective necklace. Zeke suggests throwing Johnny overboard, but Johnny jumps in and disappears with the fish following.

Zeke is thrown overboard by Matt after accusing Kitty of sleeping with both brothers; the fish eats him. Johnny reaches shore and returns in a motorboat to tow the group, but the fish spins the boat, wrapping a rope around Johnny's neck; Kitty tries to cut it, but he dies. The trio throws Johnny's body overboard, but the fish refuses it. Matt throws Kitty into the lake after an argument; she swims off.

The brothers fight and fall in; Simon injures his head, and blood attracts the fish. Matt is eaten while Simon swims to shore. Kitty takes Johnny's necklace, and the fish attacks his corpse. She swims to shore, but Simon drowns her in the shallows.

Production

Plans for Beneath were announced in 2012, with Daniel Zovatto named as a lead. Filming took place over 18 days. Larry Fessenden designed the fish himself, wanting it to resemble a real fish rather than an evil creature. Shooting was difficult because the crew had only small boats, making any company move time-consuming. Fessenden revised the script heavily, removing flashback scenes to keep the drama confined to the boat.

Reception

Critical reception was predominantly negative. Film School Rejects called the movie what happens when indie directors have bills to pay. Dread Central compared it to The Room, saying both are oblivious in their terribleness. The Hollywood Reporter and RogerEbert.com gave mixed reviews; The Hollywood Reporter noted it was efficiently shot, edited, and scored but otherwise a depressing example of bad movies happening to interesting directors. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 35% approval rating (17 reviews, average 4.9/10). On Metacritic, it has a 40 out of 100 (8 critics), indicating mixed or average reviews.