Netflix launches six-part thriller Below starring Josh Hartnett

Netflix has released Below, a six-episode thriller starring Josh Hartnett as fisherman Calvin Penney, on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. The series was created by Jesse McKeown, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Netflix is presenting it as a limited series, meaning it is built as one closed story rather than a returning drama with multiple seasons. The tag appears on its teaser, billed as a "Limited Series Teaser" on Netflix. Each of the six episodes runs roughly 40 minutes, which puts the full season at about four hours of viewing.

The story begins with a prologue set in Newfoundland in 1986, then jumps 40 years forward. Penney lives in Snook's Arm, a small working fishing port. A mysterious sea creature terrorises the coastal town. Penney must fight to protect his family and his community's vanishing way of life.

Netflix Tudum describes the premise as an underwater mystery that Hartnett's character must unravel. The platform calls Calvin bighearted but stubborn, a man tied to the water and to his town. It lists Below as a thriller series.

The ensemble around Hartnett includes Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton, Natasha Henstridge, Willow Kean and Ruby Stokes. Kean plays Ruth, Calvin's sister, who serves as the local harbormaster. Heaton plays Wade, Calvin's son. Those family ties sit at the centre of the fight to hold the community together.

McKeown previously wrote for The Umbrella Academy and 19-2, according to Netflix Tudum. Below was shot on location in Newfoundland, the province where the story is set, according to Netflix Tudum. Tudum laid out the trailer, cast, release date and plot on Sept. 10, following an earlier teaser article on July 28.

For viewers, this means a short, complete run. Six episodes. One town. Something moving under the water.