Below on Netflix: Full Cast, Story, Episodes and Is It Good? (2026)

Below is a six-episode Netflix sea monster thriller set in Newfoundland. Josh Hartnett leads it, with Charlie Heaton and Mackenzie Davis alongside him. Critics have mostly been positive, though few are calling it a masterpiece; the praise tends to land on how fun and atmospheric it is. All six episodes arrived on October 8, 2026.

Below on Netflix: quick facts

Detail	Info
Release date	October 8, 2026 (all six episodes at once)
Format	Limited series, 6 episodes
Episode length	About 37 to 47 minutes
Creator / showrunner	Jesse McKeown
Directors	Jamie Childs, Helen Shaver, Stephen Dunn
Genre	Supernatural thriller, mystery, family drama
Rating	TV-MA
Country	Canada (set in Newfoundland)
Music	Mark Korven

What is Below about?

Below opens in 1986. A nine-year-old Calvin Penney and his family move from the tiny island of Little Pot Rock to the larger community of Snook's Arm. Something happens around that move, and his father dies in circumstances nobody has fully explained.

Jump forward forty years. Adult Calvin (Josh Hartnett) is a fisherman in a town that has mostly stopped fishing. Locals now spend their days hauling chunks of floating ice, which are sold to a vodka company. A vote is also looming on whether residents should take a buyout and leave their land. Then boats start going down, and Calvin becomes convinced that something large and alive is in the water.

The show splits its attention between the creature, Calvin's unresolved family history, and a town deciding whether it can survive at all. If you want the monster, you will get it, and there is plenty of the human side too.

Below Netflix cast: who plays who

Here is the full Below cast for 2026, taken from Netflix's listing and the trade coverage around the release.

Actor	Character	Known for
Josh Hartnett	Calvin Penney	Oppenheimer, Trap, Black Hawk Down, Penny Dreadful
Mackenzie Davis	Dr. Fonda Howander	Halt and Catch Fire, Black Mirror: San Junipero, Terminator: Dark Fate
Charlie Heaton	Wade Penney (Calvin's son)	Stranger Things, The New Mutants
Rohan Campbell	Jay Penney	Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends
Ruby Stokes	Mary Penney	Supporting cast
Willow Kean	Ruth Penney	Supporting cast
Kaleb Horn	Noah	Supporting cast
Natasha Henstridge	Jan	Species, Ghosts of Mars
Joshua Close	Officer Jaxon Noseworthy	Supporting cast
David Wenham	Steve Bruner	The Lord of the Rings, 300
Mary Walsh	Ensemble role	Canadian comedy and TV veteran
Azriel Dalman	Young Calvin (1986)	Child lead of the opening timeline

Josh Hartnett's new Netflix show

Below is Josh Hartnett's new Netflix show, and it is a bigger part than a typical lead. He is also an executive producer, so he put weight behind the project. He was announced as the lead in May 2025.

Reviewers describe Calvin as a gruff and tired man carrying old trauma who is mostly trying to hold his family together. Hartnett worked on a Newfoundland accent for the part, and Variety found the result amusing, though that did not stop it from calling the series a gripping watch.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that the setup plays a bit like Jaws, with Hartnett in the police chief role and Davis as the scientist. Once David Wenham's Steve arrives mid-season, the comparison gets even clearer.

Josh Hartnett movies and shows worth knowing

If Below made you curious about his earlier work, these are the usual starting points:

• Oppenheimer (2023): a supporting role in Christopher Nolan's biopic that brought him back to wide attention.
• Trap (2024): M. Night Shyamalan's thriller, with Hartnett as the lead.
• Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor (2001): the two war films that made him a major name early on.
• Penny Dreadful (2014 to 2016): three seasons of gothic horror on Showtime.
• Lucky Number Slevin (2006) and 30 Days of Night (2007): a crime thriller and a vampire horror film, both good if you like him in darker material.
• The Faculty and Halloween H20 (1998): his late-nineties horror run.

Charlie Heaton in Below

Charlie Heaton plays Wade Penney, Calvin's son. Most viewers know him as Jonathan Byers from Stranger Things, so seeing him in a cold fishing town with no Hawkins in sight is part of the appeal.

Wade starts having unsettling dreams in the early episodes, which pulls him into the mystery. Heaton has said the shoot involved real time on the water with the Coast Guard, and that cast members drove boats and kayaked as part of production. That practical feel carries over to the screen.

Outside Stranger Things, his other credits include Marrowbone and The New Mutants, where he played Sam Guthrie.

Mackenzie Davis in Below

Mackenzie Davis plays Dr. Fonda Howander, a marine researcher who teams up with Calvin to investigate the strange events. In episode two she and Calvin start working together, and by episode three she is warning residents about the threat in the water.

Davis has the strongest genre résumé in the cast. She was in Halt and Catch Fire, the Black Mirror episode San Junipero, Blade Runner 2049, Tully, Terminator: Dark Fate and Station Eleven. She is the science and logic side of the story, and a lot of the show's energy comes from her pairing with Hartnett.

Is Below on Netflix good?

Mostly yes, with caveats. Wikipedia's summary of the reception is generally positive, and the major trade reviews line up behind that.

• Variety called it an exhilarating sea monster thriller and praised how it blends genres while touching on climate and human nature.
• The Hollywood Reporter went lighter, calling it a likably silly spooky-season surprise.
• Leisurebyte liked the atmosphere and the idea of horror tied to a disappearing way of life, but noted the series loses some momentum in places.

The creature is the hook, but the best parts are the town, the family and a community running out of options. At six episodes it is short enough to finish in a weekend, and it fits October well. If you want a tightly plotted prestige drama, this may feel looser than that. If you want a creature feature with real characters, it should work.

Watch it if you like Jaws-style monster stories, small-town mysteries, Stranger Things-era Netflix thrillers, or Josh Hartnett in a lead role. Skip it if you want constant gore or a fast, twist-heavy plot, since the pacing is moodier than that.

Below episodes and runtime

There are six episodes, each between roughly 37 and 47 minutes, so the full series is about four hours. The first three:

Episode	Title	What it sets up
1	Come Home Year	Calvin welcomes his family home as an unexpected arrival stirs the town.
2	Crown and Anchor	Calvin and Fonda investigate while Wade struggles with unsettling dreams.
3	Sir John Franklin	Wade and Calvin meet mysterious newcomers and Fonda warns the town.

Netflix released all six at once, so there is no weekly wait. It is billed as a limited series, and no second season has been announced, so treat it as a self-contained story for now.

Why Newfoundland? Setting and folklore

Creator Jesse McKeown chose Newfoundland for its rugged coast and tight communities, and because the province has a long history of storms, shipwrecks and the collapse of the cod fishery. In his view, surviving a winter there can already feel like a horror story, so a sea creature fits the local history instead of fighting it.

The show leans on that context so it can be more than a monster story. The fictional town of Snook's Arm is dealing with the kind of pressure real fishing communities face: shrinking work, buyout offers and the question of whether to stay.

Below Netflix FAQ

When did Below come out on Netflix?

All six episodes were released on October 8, 2026.

Who is in the Below cast?

Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis and Charlie Heaton lead the cast, joined by Natasha Henstridge, Joshua Close, Rohan Campbell, Willow Kean, Ruby Stokes, Kaleb Horn, Mary Walsh and David Wenham.

Is Below based on a true story?

No. It is a fictional supernatural thriller, though it draws on Newfoundland folklore and the real history of the region's fishing communities.

How many episodes does Below have?

Six episodes, each about 37 to 47 minutes long.

Is Below on Netflix good?

Critics have been mostly positive. It is a fun, atmospheric creature thriller with a strong lead performance, though a few reviewers say the momentum dips in places.

Is there a Below season 2?

Netflix presents Below as a six-episode limited series. No second season has been announced as of October 13, 2026.

Where was Below filmed and set?

The story is set in the fictional Newfoundland town of Snook's Arm, and cast members have talked about shooting out on the real ocean.