Below (2026) No Spoiler Review: Josh Hartnett Carries a Netflix Series That Is Below Average

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Below, sadly, is below average.

Created by Jesse McKeown (The Umbrella Academy), the six-episode Netflix series stars Josh Hartnett as a fisherman in a small Newfoundland town.

It is a Hallmark movie in a mystery thriller disguise. The plot is all over the place. There is a lot of hand waving on elements that were supposed to be big parts of the story but ended up becoming MacGuffins.

Going into the last episode, I told my wife, “They have a lot of things to tie up in one episode!” And they spectacularly failed.

It’s definitely a “Netflix show,” the kind you can just keep on in the background. It’s very similar to The Last House (2026), another Netflix series riddled with plot holes that didn’t really make sense in the end. Both seem like they were written by AI.

The best thing about the series is Josh Hartnett. Even with the accent, he carries the series on his shoulders. I’m glad to see the Josh Hartnett Renaissance. Catch him in Trap (2024), directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and the less impressive but watchable Fight or Flight (2025).

Special mention to Mackenzie Davis, who seems to be typecast as the scientist who discovers things. Her budding romance with Josh Hartnett was wasted. It bubbled up in a total of one scene.

Charlie Heaton was cast as the lovable loser, fresh from his role in Stranger Things. Unfortunately, he is more loser than lovable in this series. Guy can’t catch a break (can’t even catch icebergs!).

The ending wants to set up a sequel in the laziest way possible. Not a spoiler, because it’s that lazy. They just head out to sea and squint into the distance while the music rises to a crescendo. Did they see anything? No. How about that other thing that was never resolved, did it make itself known? No. Maybe another iceberg appears? No. Just squinting into the distance. And that encapsulates the laziness of this probably AI-written snot squirt of a series.

★★☆☆☆ for me, ★★☆☆☆ for her.

Want to see what else we’ve been watching? I’m on Letterboxd.