Josh Hartnett says Newfoundland sold him on Netflix thriller Below

Newfoundland makes the pitch for Netflix's thriller Below.

Josh Hartnett told Deadline's TIFF Studio that the province's huge role in the script was a massive selling point for him to join the show, an interview published on September 13 Deadline. It is a short answer. It tells you where the series lives.

Below is a limited series, a story told in one season with a set ending. Hartnett stars alongside Mackenzie Davis, with Charlie Heaton completing the central trio Deadline. The show comes from writer and creator Jesse McKeown and director Jamie Childs as a Netflix studio series.

The plot stays close to the shore. A small town faces a threat from a mysterious sea creature, according to Netflix's Tudum site Netflix Tudum. Hartnett plays Calvin Penney, a listing on the festival's official films site notes TIFF.

The cast and makers brought that story to Toronto. The Deadline Studio panel gathered Hartnett, Davis, Heaton, McKeown and producer Jessica Rhoades at the Bisha Hotel. Below held its first festival screening at 9:30 on Thursday, September 10 at TIFF Lightbox. The festival itself runs September 10–20, 2026.

Place is more than location here. The series is set in Newfoundland and was filmed there, with production details outlined by Tudum last year Netflix Tudum. Shooting on the coast gives the creature story salt air and working harbours rather than a studio tank.

For fans, this means a familiar set-up with a specific accent. A tight cast. A cold sea. One season to close the mystery.