Hook, Line, and Stinker
There are horror movies about monsters, and then there are horror movies that are monsters. Beneath (2013), directed by Larry Fessenden, firmly belongs to the latter category—a 90-minute swamp of bad decisions, worse dialogue, and a fish that looks like it swam straight out of a rejected Sharknado spin-off.
The premise sounds simple enough: six high school seniors go to a lake for one last day of sun, fun, and casual death by giant catfish. What could go wrong? Everything, apparently.
Fessenden, a filmmaker known for crafting smart, atmospheric horror (Wendigo, Habit), somehow decided to take a sabbatical from subtlety and deliver what feels like a SyFy original film that took a wrong turn and ended up in art-house limbo.
The Catch of the Day: One (1) Giant Rubber Fish
Let’s get this out of the way: the monster in Beneath is a catfish. Not a mutated shark, not an ancient sea demon—just an oversized catfish that looks like it was built in someone’s garage out of papier-mâché and regret.
This isn’t the sleek, terrifying aquatic menace of Jaws; this is your weird uncle’s fishing trophy brought to life by black magic and bad animatronics. When it lunges out of the water, you half expect it to apologize for the inconvenience.
It’s a brave choice, really—centering your horror film on a creature that could be defeated by a sturdy net and a mildly competent park ranger. The movie wants us to believe this fish is an unstoppable force of nature, but it’s hard to fear a monster that moves slower than dial-up internet.
Six Teens, No Brains
The main cast is a buffet of horror archetypes:
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Johnny (Daniel Zovatto): The brooding “nice guy” with a mysterious fish-related necklace and the charisma of damp cardboard.
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Kitty (Bonnie Dennison): The Final Girl, except she’s kind of a jerk and screams every five minutes.
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Zeke (Griffin Newman): The token “funny” one, which is movie-speak for “dies horribly while wearing a GoPro.”
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Matt and Simon (Chris Conroy and Jonny Orsini): Brothers who hate each other, fight over the same girl, and apparently share one functioning brain cell.
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Deb (Mackenzie Rosman): The obligatory first victim, because every lake needs a blood sacrifice.
Their group dynamic is so toxic it could poison the lake faster than the fish. Within ten minutes, they’re arguing, flirting, and making decisions that would make Darwin sigh audibly.
When the catfish first attacks, their reaction isn’t “Get help” or “Call the coast guard.” It’s “Throw Deb’s corpse overboard to distract it.” These are the kind of people who would handle a flat tire by setting the car on fire and hoping for the best.
Suspense That Sinks Like a Stone
Once the boat gets stranded, Beneath becomes a psychological thriller in theory and a soap opera in practice. The teens turn on each other faster than you can say “low budget.” Accusations fly, alliances crumble, and everyone starts yelling like a Jerry Springer reunion episode hosted on a pontoon.
It could’ve been tense—claustrophobia, paranoia, a ticking clock—but the execution is pure chaos. The dialogue is stiff enough to make mannequins blush, and every argument sounds like it was written during a group therapy session gone wrong.
“You knew about the fish!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Then why did you bring that necklace?”
“Because symbolism, okay?”
If that exchange doesn’t fill you with dread, nothing will.
The movie desperately tries to say something profound about human nature under pressure, but all it really proves is that teenagers shouldn’t be trusted with boats—or dialogue.
The Fish Eats, the Audience Suffers
The body count rises, and with each death comes another moment of unintentional comedy gold.
Zeke gets eaten while filming his own demise, proving that GoPros are indeed waterproof but not idiot-proof. Johnny accidentally hangs himself with a rope while trying to play hero, a death so clumsy it feels like slapstick. Matt and Simon, locked in a testosterone-fueled battle for Dumbest Brother, end up literally feeding each other to the fish.
By the time only Kitty and Simon are left, you’ve stopped rooting for survival and started rooting for the catfish. At least it’s consistent.
Symbolism, or: The Necklace That Did Nothing
There’s this recurring motif of Johnny’s tooth necklace, which apparently offers “protection.” It’s the kind of mystical trinket you find at a roadside gas station next to the Slim Jims. The necklace turns out to be… useless. Unless its purpose was to highlight how every character’s decisions are catastrophically bad, in which case it’s brilliant.
When Kitty takes the necklace off Johnny’s corpse and thinks she’s safe, the fish immediately proves her wrong. Then she’s promptly drowned by Simon, because apparently the real monster was man all along—or at least this man, who decides that homicide is a solid coping strategy.
Mr. Parks and the Moral of the Story
The final act brings back Mr. Parks, an elderly local who exists solely to say cryptic things like “The lake remembers” and “Don’t disturb what lies beneath.” Naturally, he ends up shooting at Simon, forcing him back into the water for one last fishy finale.
It’s meant to be poetic justice. Instead, it feels like a mercy killing—for us. The last shot of the lake turning red is meant to be chilling, but by that point, you’re just wondering how fast you can return the rental.
A Feast of Missed Opportunities
What’s frustrating about Beneath is that it could have been good. Larry Fessenden is no stranger to slow-burn horror and moral allegory. But here, the characters are too obnoxious to care about, the monster too ridiculous to fear, and the tone too confused to sustain any suspense.
Is it a creature feature? A psychological breakdown? A survival thriller? Who knows. What it ends up being is a floating argument interrupted by occasional fish bites.
The cinematography is competent—some eerie shots of rippling water and gloomy forest edges hint at what could’ve been. But every time the film builds a bit of atmosphere, someone opens their mouth and ruins it.
Final Thoughts: Just Keep Swimming (Away)
Beneath tries to be a metaphor for human selfishness and the breakdown of civilization under duress. Instead, it’s a metaphor for how not to make a horror movie.
The pacing drags, the characters are loathsome, and the monster is laughable. The only true terror is realizing you still have thirty minutes left.
If you ever find yourself on a lake with this group of people, do yourself a favor—jump in and swim toward the fish. It’ll be quicker and, somehow, more dignified.
Final Verdict: ★☆☆☆☆
Like its title, Beneath stays there — a murky mess of mediocrity. The catfish deserves better. Hell, we deserve better.
