Josh Hartnett Faces a Terror From the Deep in Netflix’s New Six-Part Thriller Below

Josh Hartnett is heading into dangerous waters for his latest television role, leading Netflix’s upcoming six-part thriller Below, a Newfoundland-set mystery that combines creature horror with a story about family, isolation and a coastal community fighting to survive.

The limited series will premiere globally on Netflix on October 8, 2026. Hartnett stars alongside Mackenzie Davis and Stranger Things actor Charlie Heaton, with the story centered on a mysterious entity emerging from the waters surrounding a small Newfoundland town.

Rather than presenting a straightforward battle between humans and a sea monster, Below builds its mystery around a fisherman already haunted by an unexplained tragedy from decades earlier — and suggests that what is happening in the present may force him to confront secrets that have remained buried for years.

A mysterious threat emerges off Newfoundland

At the center of Below is Calvin Penney, played by Hartnett, a stubborn but big-hearted fisherman living in the small Newfoundland community of Snooks Arm.

Calvin has endured years of setbacks and personal tragedy. Most significantly, he remains troubled by the mysterious death of his father decades earlier. He is also a single father of three struggling to hold his fractured family together.

Then something inexplicable begins happening offshore.

An unidentified sea creature starts threatening the community, forcing Calvin into a fight that extends far beyond his own survival. The town itself is suddenly in danger, along with the traditional way of life that has defined the community for generations.

Netflix’s official synopsis describes the story as one in which a mysterious sea creature terrorizes a Newfoundland town, leaving Calvin and his family fighting to protect their close-knit community.

But the creature is only part of the mystery.

Calvin joins forces with a marine researcher

As the situation escalates, Calvin teams up with Fonda Howander, a visiting marine researcher played by Mackenzie Davis.

The pair begin investigating what is happening beneath the water, searching for an explanation before the threat causes further devastation.

Davis has compared Calvin and Fonda’s dynamic to two unlikely investigators trying to solve a mystery together, while describing Below as a combination of frightening, funny and fast-moving storytelling.

Their investigation also begins pulling them toward secrets connected to the island itself.

That creates a second layer to the series: understanding the creature may require Calvin to confront parts of Newfoundland’s past — as well as unresolved questions from his own family history.

Creator Jesse McKeown has indicated that the story is intended to reach beyond a conventional monster narrative, incorporating the history and character of Newfoundland alongside its supernatural mystery.

Charlie Heaton plays Calvin’s son Wade

The danger becomes particularly personal through Calvin’s relationship with his son, Wade Penney, played by Charlie Heaton.

The teaser reveals that Wade begins experiencing disturbing symptoms as strange events spread through the community, increasing the urgency behind Calvin’s search for answers.

For Calvin, protecting the town therefore becomes inseparable from protecting his own family.

Heaton, best known for playing Jonathan Byers in Stranger Things, immersed himself in Newfoundland culture while preparing for the production. He spent time around communities outside St. John’s and spoke about the warmth he experienced from local residents.

Hartnett took a similarly detailed approach.

To develop the distinctive Newfoundland accent, the actor regularly listened to a local radio station where fishermen discussed their work and everyday lives.

That attention to regional identity reflects the importance of Newfoundland itself to the series.

Newfoundland is more than just a backdrop

Below was filmed on location in Newfoundland rather than attempting to recreate its rugged coastline elsewhere.

Some sequences were also filmed on the actual ocean rather than relying entirely on green-screen environments. Heaton recalled working on the water with the Coast Guard and even kayaking at sea during production.

The location was fundamental to McKeown’s original idea.

The creator said he had visited Newfoundland for years and had long wanted to set a story there, describing its landscape as simultaneously beautiful, isolated, rugged and potentially frightening. He was equally interested in the warmth, humor and distinctive personality of its communities.

That contrast provides Below with much of its atmosphere.

The ocean represents livelihood and tradition for the community, but it also becomes the source of something nobody fully understands.

More than a conventional creature thriller

Although the mysterious sea entity provides Below with its central threat, Netflix is positioning the series as a combination of suspense, local mythology, humor and family drama.

The wider themes concern community, resilience and adaptation as the people of Snooks Arm face circumstances capable of permanently changing their lives.

That means the central question is not simply how the creature can be stopped.

Calvin is already carrying unresolved grief when the story begins. His family is struggling, his relationship with the community is complicated, and the unexplained death of his father continues to shape him decades later.

The crisis forces those personal conflicts back to the surface.

Hartnett has described Calvin as someone shaped by repeated tragedies who feels increasingly disconnected from the place where he lives.

The creature’s arrival therefore threatens more than his physical safety. It forces him to decide whether the community he has struggled to belong to is still something worth fighting for.

Josh Hartnett leads an ensemble cast

Hartnett leads Below as Calvin Penney, with Mackenzie Davis as Fonda Howander and Charlie Heaton as Wade Penney.

The supporting cast includes Ruby Stokes as Mary Penney, Rohan Campbell as Jay Penney, Willow Kean as Ruth Penney and Kaleb Horn as Noah. Natasha Henstridge and Mary Walsh are also among the performers listed by Netflix.

The series was created by Jesse McKeown, whose previous credits include The Umbrella Academy and 19-2.

Hartnett is also an executive producer, alongside McKeown, Jessica Rhoades, Chris Hatcher, Jamie Childs, Louise Sutton and Sharon Hall.

The entire story will unfold across six episodes.

Hartnett found the concept difficult to put down

Hartnett has said the scripts immediately caught his attention.

After receiving the material, he recalled reading the first two scripts in less than an hour because of the strength of McKeown’s voice, the concept and the character of Calvin. He was also intrigued by encountering a major drama specifically rooted in Newfoundland, a place whose history and culture he had previously known little about.

More recently, Hartnett explained that he was attracted to Calvin because the character is not a straightforward hero but someone driven by complicated and sometimes conflicting motivations.

That complexity appears central to the series.

Calvin must confront a threat nobody understands while simultaneously dealing with his own past, his responsibilities as a father and a community whose future is becoming increasingly uncertain.

What exactly is waiting beneath the water?

The teaser deliberately keeps the nature of the creature largely concealed.

What is clear is that its arrival begins destabilizing the town, strange events start affecting its residents, and Calvin and Fonda’s investigation leads toward secrets that reach beyond an ordinary animal attack.

The mystery surrounding Calvin’s father adds another unresolved question. His death occurred decades before the present crisis, but it continues to haunt Calvin as he investigates what is now happening offshore.

Whether those two mysteries are connected is one of the questions the series is positioned to explore.

With six episodes, an isolated Atlantic setting and a story balancing a creature mystery against a fractured family’s history, Below is shaping up as one of Netflix’s more unusual thrillers of the fall.

All six episodes of Below premiere October 8, 2026.