Netflix’s New Survival Thriller Is Great News For These Two 2024 Horror Trends (2024)

Summary

Under Paris on Netflix showcases a resurgence in creature features, with comparisons to Jaws and a focus on gory thrills over logical inconsistencies.
2024 has seen success for monster movies like Under Paris, Infested, and Sting, proving that the genre is making a comeback both in and outside the US.
Hollywood hits like Godzilla x Kong may dominate, but smaller international films like Under Paris are finding success without big budgets or star power.

Not only is Under Paris doing well on Netflix, but the movie’s impressive performance is evidence of two broader positive trends in the horror genre throughout 2024 so far. Directed by Frontier(s) helmer Xavier Gens, Under Paris is a Netflix survival thriller where a killer shark is let loose in Paris’s famous Seine River. The Seine might be too cold to house sharks and the animals may rarely enter freshwater environments, but by Under Paris’ wild ending, viewers will have a hard time caring about logical fallacies and plot holes. While goofy, Under Paris is undeniably an effective horror.

The Netflix movie has proven that creature features are well and truly back, with Under Paris garnering comparisons to Jaws in the weeks after its release. Plenty of critics bit back at this hype, complaining about the movie’s thin characters and silly plot contrivances. However, it is tough to deny that Under Paris is brutal, unpredictable, and fun despite its outlandish premise. Under Paris’ cast of characters is less important than its gory monster movie thrills, which aligns with a promising recent trend in the horror genre. Despite their ignominious reputation, creature features are doing stellar business in 2024.

Netflix's Under Paris Shares A Lot In Common With This Shark Movie From 16 Years Ago

Although Netflix's Under Paris has an audaciously wild concept at its core, it's not the first killer shark movie to somehow take place in the city.

Under Paris Is 2024’s Latest Successful Monster Movie

Netflix’s Killer Shark Movie Is Another Hit Creature Feature

Although topping the Netflix charts was a particularly impressive achievement, Under Paris is not the only original monster movie to succeed in 2024. Director Kiah Roache-Turner’s Australian spider movie Sting earned an impressive 71% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, while director Sébastien Vaniček’s French spider horror Infested beat this score with a staggering 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Although director Hayley Easton’s killer shark movie Something in the Water didn’t fare quite so well with critics, the survival horror did scare up a solid $279,204 from a limited release in Mexico alone. Its upcoming UK and Russia release dates could improve on this.

All of these hits, alongside the standout success of Under Paris, prove that monster movies are making a comeback in 2024. Netflix’s new shark movie will soon be followed by A Quiet Place: Day One, a prequel that is on track to become a huge box office success judging by the performance of its predecessors. Meanwhile, the $571 million success of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire further reaffirms the sub-genre’s solid standing among audiences. That said, those two Hollywood hits are missing one ingredient that the rest of 2024’s more modest monster movie successes have in common.

Under Paris Is Another Horror Hit From Outside The U.S.

Under Paris Is A French Survival Thriller

Netflix’s Under Paris is a rare global horror hit that doesn’t come from America, much like Infested (which is also French), Sting (Australian), and Something In The Water (British). Under Paris’s ending reveals that Lilith and her fellow killer great white sharks have gone global, but 2024's monster movies set this trend before the Netflix movie arrived. Many of 2024’s big creature feature successes come from outside the US because the sub-genre doesn't require recognizable stars or a huge budget, two typical barriers to entry that foreign movies face. This allowed Under Paris to succeed upon release.

Netflix’s New Survival Thriller Is Great News For These Two 2024 Horror Trends (2)

Under Paris (2024)

Mystery

Thriller

Action