“Under the Seine” becomes the first French film to exceed 100 million views on Netflix

“For Xavier Gens, director of “Sous la Seine”, “the film has entered popular culture.”

The thriller Under the Seine has just entered Netflix history by becoming the first French feature film to exceed 100 million views on the American platform. In the film, a shark finds refuge in the Parisian river and disrupts the triathlon world championships.

Despite negative reviews in France, the work “has been very successful in the United States, Latin America, Brazil and throughout Europe”said its director Xavier Gens on Monday, September 2, before recalling that it has become number 1 “after two weeks” in 90 countries. “It’s huge”he rejoices. The actor Nassim Lyes even found himself “an incredible Brazilian fan community”confides the filmmaker.

Released in June 2024, two months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the work took advantage of this anchoring in current events to “enter popular culture”rejoices its director. “The athletes, during some interviews, spoke about the fear of sharks in the Seine, he said. I think they were laughing about it.”he says. He himself couldn’t help but watch the Olympic events while thinking about his feature film: “It was really the same setup and the same types of sets, (…) which was great. We really felt like we were seeing pieces of the film,” he explains.

“Whether it was the athletes, the organizers, even the mayor of Paris, everyone was talking about the film.”

Xavier Gens is now focused on other projects, including a documentary series on Paul Watson, an environmental activist against whaling, imprisoned in Greenland for his sabotage actions against Japanese whalers, and threatened with extradition to Japan. “He is one of our heroes, who absolutely must be freed”believes the director. A militant series therefore, before a Under the Seine 2 ? Netflix says no. But “If we find the right story, I think there can be a sequel.”qualifies Xavier Gens.