Netflix's Below, a Josh Hartnett sea-creature miniseries, premieres October 8

Mixed · 2Netflix will release the six-episode miniseries Below in full on October 8, with Josh Hartnett in the lead. 1 2 Centre · 1The series was written and created by Jesse McKeown, who previously wrote for The Umbrella Academy, and co-stars Charlie Heaton of Stranger Things. 1 Mixed · 2Hartnett plays Calvin Penney, a struggling fisherman and single father in the Newfoundland village of Snook’s Arm. A mysterious sea creature starts harming people, and he must protect his family and town. 2 1

Left · 1The A.V. Club describes the plot as starting when Calvin hauls in a large block of ice, which a vodka distiller rejects as "bad ice", and that sets off the events of the series. It compares the tone to True Detective season four meeting Jaws. 2 Left · 1Calvin's children are played by Charlie Heaton (Wade), Rohan Campbell (Jay) and Ruby Stokes (Mary). Mackenzie Davis plays marine researcher Fonda Howander, an ally who helps him investigate the creature. 2 Left · 1McKeown has lived on and off in Newfoundland and Labrador, his wife's home province, for 18 years. He says its terrain made a good setting, and he drew on local culture, mythology and the mid-20th-century Resettlement programs, which the premiere dramatises in a flashback. 2

Left · 1According to the A.V. Club, the cast worked with local dialect coaches, including co-star Allison Kelly, on the Newfoundland accent. McKeown says the local jokes and phrasing earned a "seal of approval" from Newfoundlanders. Director Jamie Childs, who directed three episodes, wanted the series to feel like old-school thrillers from the ’70s and ’80s. 2 Centre · 1Collider notes that 2026 has been a quiet year for Hartnett. His only earlier role was Frank in the final season of The Bear, and he also appears in the film Verity, which it says opened to worse reviews than many fans expected. 1