Under Paris Parent Guide

Three years ago, environmental and marine researcher Sophia (Bérénice Bejo) lost her research team to a shark attack, which also left her injured. Content with her new life on land, Sophia learns that the shark who attacked her years before is now swimming up the Seine, hunting unsuspecting people. With the World Triathlon Championships fast approaching, Sophia is recruited by the Paris police to get the shark out of the river before hundreds of athletes enter the water.

It is well documented that I am not a lover of horror or gore. However, I appreciate a campy monster movie, because they’re silly rather than scary. Under Paris starts out looking like a serious film (which made me a bit nervous) but it soon leans into the camp-factor and becomes a riotous good time. (If you consider watching people get bitten in half fun, which isn’t the case for everyone.)

The plot is fairly predictable until the end, which I will not spoil. The story follows the regular creature-feature tropes, complete with a government official denying the shark’s existence, a cocky environmentalist who gets too close to the beast, and a reluctant expert dragged along for the adventure. The shark itself is used sparingly, as per the Spielberg philosophy, but she is effective as a threat, and I found myself rooting for her over the humans most of the time.

Obviously, this is a shark thriller, so you can expect violence, bites, and dismemberments. I personally expected the gore level to be higher than it was, though it is still within the TV-MA range. For people like me who generally stay away from gore, this is a tolerable amount of negative content, and it’s somewhat offset by the outlandish story and campy undertones, which take the edge off what could otherwise be scary or upsetting. Other content concerns are minimal, with a relatively small amount of swearing, and only a couple of scenes with brief substance use.

Fans of shark movies, creature features, and “pretending to be serious but actually very silly” films will get a huge kick out of Under Paris, but they might think twice next time they go for a swim.