Under Paris ending explained: Do the sharks win?

The story begins with a shark expert named Sophia who tragically lost her husband while researching a Mako shark named Lilith. This tragic loss rips her apart even more than the shark ripped her man to pieces.

But years later, when Lilith has inexplicably reached the Seine River, Sophia fights to save Paris from the jaws of death, all while battling ignorant government officials who refuse to believe that they're stuck in the middle of a shark movie themselves.

Director Xavier Gens of Frontier(s) fame has been known to take some wild swings before, but knowing that still won't prepare you for how Under Paris ends.

Warning: spoilers for Under Paris.

Under Paris ending explained: Do the sharks win?

As the film progresses and Sophia gets ever closer to saving Paris, she makes a startling discovery: Not only has Lilith done the impossible and travelled all the way from the Pacific Ocean to the River of Seine, Lilith has also created a mini-army of babies by reproducing on her own without the need for a mate. It's a thing in nature sometimes. Look it up.

The trouble is that these mutant offspring are somehow able to survive in freshwater, just like mummy, which doesn't bode well for the people of France, and therefore the future of brie production worldwide. What's worse is that they can also reproduce asexually. Cue an entire army of angry shark babies growing in the catacombs under Paris.

The mayor ignores Sophia's warning because the city is hosting a triathlon that will be instrumental to France's chance at hosting the Olympics. Ignoring shark problems went swimmingly well for the mayor in Jaws, and the same is unfortunately true here.

It doesn't help that a youth-driven activist group Save Our Seas is fighting to protect Lilith, because apparently sharks have feelings too. The leaders Mika and her partner Ben don't just fail to save Lilith - they also fail to save themselves, along with a number of fellow activists who all end up taking part in the shark buffet.

Yet even then, no one is fully prepared for the bloodbath that's to come. And it really is a bloodbath.

Before you know it, Sophia's team are killed while trying to plant bombs that will blow up the shark nest. Funnily enough, the bombs are just as responsible for their deaths as the sharks themselves.

When the French military finally realise what's going on, they try to shoot the sharks down, only to accidentally hit long-dormant explosives from World War II still hidden in the Seine River.

Old bridges and various other structures collapse in the explosions that follow, leading to an actual flood that sweeps through Paris. And where there's a flood, there's an easy way for more sharks to get on land and start feasting on everyone who was too smart to swim in the river.

By the end, Lilith's family emerge victorious, because they're sharks and sharks are cool. But what's most shocking is that there's no heroic end where the tide is turned last-minute. Under Paris really does end with everyone dying while sharks take over France's capital.

And given how they can reproduce at an exponential rate, it won't be long before the rest of the world succumbs to this veritable sharknado, too.

The film says as much when a map in the end credits reveals how fast the sharks will spread, cutting humans off from access to the water we need to survive as a civilisation.

A sequel hasn't been commissioned by Netflix just yet, but it's only a matter of time, really. Imagine a new film set in the Thames or further afield somewhere, like the River Nile?

And just like that, a new contender joins franchises like Meg, Sharknado and, of course, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus in the grand tradition of cinematic, shark-filled greats.

Under Paris is now streaming on Netflix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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