If Under the Sun is far from winning the press and the audience, its director Xavier Gens can still boast that he received a compliment from the king of horror literature, Stephen King. The million-selling author writes on his official X (Twitter) account:
“I thought Sous la Seine was going to be a joke like Sharknado, but Twitter convinced me to check it out and it’s great. The last 25 minutes are amazing.”
This isn’t the first time the author has weighed in on platform phenomena – the most recent being in the My Little Reindeer series, which has been showered with praise from Stephen King.
Since its release on Netflix, Sous la Seine has been a real success. According to the platform, the film is on the first place in no less than 75 countries. In just five days, the feature film was viewed by more than 40.9 million subscribers*, the best launch ever for a non-English language film on Netflix.
It remains to be seen whether the success of Sous la Seine will encourage the platform to imagine sequels or variations in other countries – why not a shark attack in the Thames?
If Stephen King’s words are a great reward – and a great publicity stunt – for the film team, Xavier Gens’ film received a rather cold reception from critics and the public. On AlloCiné, Sous la Seine averages a 2 out of 5 press rating and an average 1.7 out of 5 audience rating.
*Please note that these numbers are reported by Netflix only, with no ability to verify their accuracy. The streaming platform does not indicate whether subscribers have watched the movie in its entirety.
Under the Seine is available on Netflix.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
