Summary

• Under Paris features a mythologized monster shark, but it is based on a real species - the shortfin mako.
• The film ties to Deep Blue Sea by using the shortfin mako as the main villain, a departure from the typical great white shark.
• While both films take liberties with the species, Under Paris uses the shark as a metaphor for environmental degradation.

successful shark movies since Jaws, yet while its environmentally-tinged story marks it as an outlier in the genre, other details from the film reveal it has some surprising connections to older projects. As its title implies, Under Paris has the unique distinction of being set in mainland Europe in the middle of the French capital – despite the difficulties this presents to its finned antagonist. While this would seem to place it in a similar strata to more deliberately over-the-top shark films, it is also clearly influenced by more realistic entrants into the genre.

Part of what makes Under Paris so successful is its mix of gloriously outrageous action and a surprisingly poignant message about environmental degradation. According to the movie, the reason the villainous shark is able to attack unsuspecting French people in the Seine is that rapid environmental changes have sparked rapid and unprecedented evolution, to the point where it can survive in fresh water. Such a farfetched premise is a far cry from most shark movies with a grounding in fact. However, while Under Paris' specific shark is unique, other aspects of the finned foe connect to another much-loved shark film.

Under Paris' Shark Is A Shortfin Mako

It's A Real Species Of Shark

In many respects, Under Paris' shark (named Lilith throughout the film) is a mythologized monster – no more realistic than the creatures seen in SyFy classics like Sharktopus. However, while traits such as its ability to survive in the River Seine, spawn a nest of hungry offspring, and reproduce asexually are all fantastical, Lilith is not actually as ridiculous as she seems. Behind the fictionalized aspects of the Under Paris shark is the fact that Lilith technically belongs to a real species – the shortfin mako.

Under Paris is now available to view on Netflix.

Unlike their portrayal in the movie, shortfin makos are strictly oceanic animals. Built for speed, they rank among the fastest fish in the sea, with recorded top speeds of up to 70 km/h. Although Lilith is reported to be seven meters long, real shortfin makos only grow as large as four meters and are incapable of serving in fresh water.

Although the shortfin mako has been known to attack humans, it has never done so with the ferocity or intent seen in Under Paris – another area where the film deviates from reality. The fact that Lilith is based on real sharks is interesting, particularly given the movie's general willingness to bend facts to suit the narrative. What's more intriguing, however, is that her being a shortfin mako creates a connection to another classic shark movie.

Mako Sharks Also Appeared In Deep Blue Sea

It's Unusual For The Species To Feature Twice

Making Lilith a shortfin mako, as opposed to any other potentially dangerous shark species, instantly ties Under Paris to one of the most popular post-Jaws shark films: Deep Blue Sea. Released in 1999, Deep Blue Sea took a very different approach to Under Paris, with most of the action taking place in a submerged underwater research facility. In this case, what made the sharks more compelling as antagonists was the fact that their brains had been deliberately enlarged in order to conduct Alzheimer's research – making them more intelligent and more deadly.

Throughout shark movie history, the most prominent species to figure in an antagonistic capacity has been the great white – and with good reason.

What makes the Deep Blue Sea and Under Paris shark species connection interesting is that shortfin makos are actually an unusual choice as a villain. Throughout shark movie history, the most prominent species to figure in an antagonistic capacity has been the great white – and with good reason. Great whites are responsible for more attacks on humans than any other shark species and are easily the most infamous and recognizable. It's somewhat strange, therefore, that both Deep Blue Sea and Under Paris would choose to make the relatively niche shortfin mako the main villain of the movie.

Under Paris' Mako Shark Is Very Different From Deep Blue Sea's

They Take The Species In Very Different Directions

Although both Under Paris and Deep Blue Sea take the same animal as inspiration, the films offer vastly different portraits of alternate shortfin mako evolution. In Under Paris, what makes Lilith unique is her relationship with her environment. Over the course of the movie, it becomes clear that the shark is a heavy-handed metaphor for the consequences of humanity's abuse of the environment, with Lilith's exposure to changing temperatures and plastic forcing her to find new methods of survival – spawning a race of lethal super-sharks in the process that spread around the world by Under Paris' ending.

Lilith's situation means that, despite the sci-fi quality to her story, her evolution is at least somewhat organic. This makes her a more effective representation of the impact of climate change. In Deep Blue Sea, however, the sharks are an entirely man-made problem. Each of them is a result of Frankenstein-like experimentation, as opposed to a more natural evolutionary process. This pushes Deep Blue Sea into more explicitly sci-fi territory – although Under Paris is hardly a paragon of scientific accuracy.

How Dangerous Are Real Mako Sharks?

Both Films Take Real Liberties

Part of the reason successful shark movies such as Jaws and The Shallows are so effective is that their antagonists are somewhat believable. Both movies feature great whites, a species with a reputation as a man-eater. While this reputation is not necessarily deserved, given the incredibly low likelihood of a person being attacked by any shark, it nonetheless makes sense that shark movies would play on this stereotype.

By contrast, mako sharks have a very different relationship with humans. Attacks are exceedingly rare, with only 10 recorded between 1980 and 2024 (according to data gathered by The Florida Museum). The truth is that, as is the case with all sharks, shortfin makos are at a far greater risk from humans than humans are from them.

All over the world, shark species are persecuted in extraordinary numbers, with some estimates putting the death toll as high as 100 million fish per year. For makos, the risk is doubly acute, since the species is specifically targeted by sport fishing charters due to the shark's athleticism when trying to evade capture. As both Deep Blue Sea and Under Paris prove, makos can seem scary when a distorted version of reality is presented. The truth, however, is actually much more tragic for the fish.

Source: The Florida Museum