Netflix has released the first teaser trailer for Below, a new horror series starring Josh Hartnett, Charlie Heaton, and Mackenzie Davis that blends small-town mystery, creature horror, and psychological suspense. The series premieres October 8, and the newly released footage teases a terrifying force emerging from the waters off the coast of Newfoundland. Check out the trailer in the embed above.
What is Below about?
Here’s the official synopsis:
Calvin Penney (Josh Hartnett) is a big‑hearted but stubborn fisherman living in a small Newfoundland town, who’s still haunted by his father’s mysterious death from decades ago. When an unidentified sea creature begins terrorizing his hometown, Calvin must fight to hold his close-knit community together. Determined to keep his son Wade (Charlie Heaton) and the rest of his family safe, he teams up with a visiting marine researcher (Mackenzie Davis) to confront the creature and reveal the island’s buried secrets before it’s too late. Blending local myth, thrilling suspense, and heartfelt humour, this twisty six-part limited series dives into themes of family, community, and change – both terrifying and inevitable.
Josh Hartnett says he was hooked immediately
Speaking with Netflix’s Tudum, Hartnett said he immediately knew he wanted to be part of the project.
“I read the first two scripts so quickly, in less than an hour. The voice was so clear, the concept was so engaging, and the character was fantastic. I’d never read anything like it before.”
Series creator Jesse McKeown said the setting was inspired by his love of Newfoundland and its dramatic coastline.
“It’s such a unique landscape and so rugged, dangerous, isolated, and scary in a lot of ways. But then there’s also this other side to it — the community is so warm, and the people are so funny, and there are many eccentricities about the place.”
Filmed on location in Newfoundland
Rather than relying heavily on soundstages and visual effects, the production shot extensively on location in Newfoundland to capture the region’s rugged coastline and fishing culture. Hartnett immersed himself in the local community while preparing for the role.
“[One of the actors] and I went off with a couple of lobsters, a pot, grabbed some water out of the sea, and he told me all these stories. He had so much knowledge of the history of the island and the people; listening to him speak helped a lot.”
To perfect the local accent, Hartnett listened to Newfoundland radio every day, while Charlie Heaton spent time meeting locals in neighborhood bars.
The actors also spent time filming on the open ocean rather than on green-screen sets.
“We were out with the Coast Guard on the water, driving these boats, and I’m actually out in the ocean kayaking,” Heaton said. “I’ve done a lot of work on practical locations in Stranger Things, but I’ve never been out on the ocean like that, which is insane.”
For Mackenzie Davis, the project offered something different from her previous work.
“Josh and I were like two buddy cops solving a mystery. I’ve never done that in anything else … I like being in that world so much. Below is a show I’d want to watch. I want to watch shows that are funny and scary and smart and propulsive and have a brain behind them. It has all those things, which is rarer than you might think.”
What did you think of the first trailer? Will Below be your next horror binge? Let us know in the comments.
The post Below teaser trailer: Josh Hartnett battles a sea monster in Netflix’s new horror series appeared first on JoBlo.

