The Sci-Fi Horror Mystery That Has Netflix Fans Scratching Their Heads

Most films are pretty easy to understand. They usually have a pretty clear plot, easy-to-follow structure, and an ending that makes sense without requiring much analysis. What Lies Below is not one of those films. In fact, the 2020 horror sci-fi thriller might just be one of the most confusing and weird films that has become available to stream on Netflix in quite some time.

Written and directed by Braden R. Duemmler, What Lies Below follows a 16-year-old girl when she returns home from camp to discover her mother dating a man who seems, on the surface, to be pretty perfect. The film, which stars Ema Horvath, Trey Tucker, and Mena Suvari, then takes viewers on a strange and mysterious ride as its protagonist begins discovering more and more reasons to believe her mother's boyfriend may not be as perfect as he seems — or even human. The film currently holds the number one spot on Netflix's Top 10 in the U.S. list and it continues to pull in plenty of new viewers — many of whom have taken to social media to express their intense confusion over its plot.

What Lies Below is a pretty strange film, and it's one that gets progressively weirder over the course of its 87-minute runtime. The film really pushes its own story to the limits in its final act, though, which somehow manages to be simultaneously shocking, grim, and confusing. That seems to be the reaction that most viewers of What Lies Below are having anyway, according to social media.

On Twitter, @ucmblr tweeted, "im confused, hes an alien ? they all die? he likes period blood i – #whatliesbelow," while @elleniscool23 said, "Wtf kind of movie is what lies below on netflix?????? Im like at a loss of words." @BlackGirlBuddha also summed up most viewers' reaction to the film, saying, "40 minutes in .. I'm not sure if he's a fish, pedophile, killer, or all of the above! #WhatLiesBelow," and their thoughts were more or less echoed by @kennmillerr, who tweeted, "this movie "what lies below" on netflix is so weird I don't understand what's going on."

All of this is to say that it looks like Netflix, for better or worse, has yet another film on its hands capable of creating conversations online. Whether or not the film will live on past the current wave of attention it's receiving remains to be seen, but given just how downright confounding, creepy, and disturbing What Lies Below is, it feels safe to say that it is at least the kind of film viewers won't be able to forget anytime soon.