Summary
Under Parishas a seemingly unrealistic premise, but it bears a striking resemblance to a real-world event from 108 years ago that was rumored to have inspiredJaws.Under Parisdepicts a group of sharks moving from the Atlantic Ocean into the Seine in France, just in time for a triathlon to take place in the river.There aren’t really sharks in the Seine, though, and there are quite a few reasons they wouldn’t be able to make it that far inland, which makesUnder Parisseem impossible. There was, however, a real-world tragedy in 1916 that makes it less unbelievable.
Under Parisdiffers fromJawsin one big way, but they do share quite a few similarities. Some viewers even considerUnder Paristhe best shark movie sinceJaws, and it turns out they share a similarity beyond just their subjects. This 108-year-old tragedy has been rumored to be one of the inspirations behind the originalJawsnovel, but it seemsUnder Parisused it as an even more direct inspiration.Under Parismight deal with some unlikely shark behavior, but the original premise, of sharks being in a freshwater river, isn’t completely unheard of.
Under Paris Cast & Character Guide
Under Paris is an unconventional shark thriller that revitalizes the genre through effective storytelling and solid performances from its cast.
Under Paris' Initial Premise Isn’t That Absurd After New Jersey’s 1916 Shark Attacks
Under Paris' premise, that sharks could swim up a river and attack people inland, is far-fetched, but not as outlandish as it seems at first. As chronicled by theSmithsonian Magazine, there was a rash of shark attacks along the coast of New Jersey in 1916.Five different people were bitten and died, and the final victims were attacked in the freshwater, albeit slightly salty, Matawan Creek, 16 miles inland. It was a massive mystery that captured the public’s attention at the time, and there’s still quite a few unanswered questions about the New Jersey shark attacks.
The type of shark responsible for the attack still hasn’t been positively identified, mostly because it’s so difficult to verify the truth from other rumors that were circling at the time. It’s also such an unusual case: most sharks can’t normally swim up a freshwater river, even though Matawan Creek does connect directly to the Atlantic Ocean.There are some clear parallels between the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks andUnder Paris, and the fact that a shark really has traveled up a river to attack someone before makes the movie’s premise seem more plausible.
Jaws Author Pete Benchley Denied The New Jersey Attacks Inspiration (But The Connection Is Still Often Made)
Jawsis based on a novel of the same name written by Peter Benchley. It was rumored that Benchley used the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks as inspiration for that novel, butthe New York Timesreported that he denied it was one of his inspirations. Still,Jawshas quite a few similarities to 1916.Like in real life,Jawsconcerned a shark that had come much closer to shore than it normally would, and began attacking people off the coast of New England. The movie even directly mentioned the New Jersey shark attacks, when Brody and Hooper were trying to convince the mayor to close the beach.
Jaws
Cast
Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, follows the residents of Amity Island as they face terror from a menacing great white shark. The town’s police chief, a marine biologist, and a seasoned shark hunter join forces to track and kill the predator threatening their coastal community. Released in 1975.
How Under Paris' Explanation Compares To The Reasons For The Real Sharks Coming Upstream In 1916
The 1916 New Jersey shark attacks andUnder Pariswere similar situations, but they had very different explanations. In real life, no one knows exactly why the shark attacked. At the time, they had no idea what animal was behind the attacks, and the media and other people came up with some odd theories, from suggesting it was a school of sea turtles to implicating German U-Boats in leading a marine predator to the United States. In the modern day, there have been theories that it had something physically wrong with it, but ichthyologists seem more inclined to believe it was just a very unusual, one-off event.
There is also some confusion over what type of shark exactly attacked in 1916. The prevailing theory is that it was a great white, based on eyewitness descriptions of the attacks. However, modern ichthyologists are more uncertain.Given Matawan Creek’s freshwater, and the size of some of the bite marks, they think it could have been multiple sharks, and that one was a bullshark, a species of shark that can survive in freshwater. There’s no definitive answer, though, and the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks remain largely a mystery, and proof that fact is sometimes stranger than fiction.
Under Paris' ‘Sharks In The Seine’ Premise Isn’t As Ridiculous As You Think
The idea of a killer shark swimming up a river to attack people in a city seems ludicrous, but there’s some surprising truth to the story.
InUnder Paris, however, there was a fairly well-explained reason the sharks made it upstream. Lilith, the main shark in the movie, was a Mako, which cannot survive in saltwater. She had a few mutations, though, and one of them allowed her to survive in freshwater. That explained how she could survive in the Seine, and Mika explained she was forced inland by climate change and pollution, which caused her to change her behavior to survive. That explanation is whereUnder Parisstarts to deviate from real life and asks its viewers to suspend their disbelief.
Under Paris
Beneath the bustling streets of Paris lies a hidden world filled with ancient secrets and dark mysteries. A group of daring urban explorers sets out to uncover the truth buried within the city’s catacombs, only to find themselves facing a series of terrifying challenges. As they unravel the enigmatic past of Paris, they must confront their deepest fears to survive.
