I have always been especially passionated about movies that take place below the surface -be them underground or in the middle of the ocean. At times, the location itself becomes part of the plot, playing an essential role. This is not always sufficient to make it a movie worth watching (more about this later) but it certainly entices to get started. This is the case of As Above So Below, a 2014 American horror movie shot none less than in the catacombs of Paris.
The plot is not strinkingly original, featuring a hybrid of Lara Croft and Indiana Jones called Scarlett, who’s obsessed with finding the Philosopher’s Stone (if it reminds you of Harry Potter, it is right. Same stuff, which has a honoured and ancient tradition: the stone has the power grant eternal life and turn any metal into gold.) Scarlett finds out that the stone is hidden in the catacombs of Paris and she decides to go there in secret and retrieve it. Guess what? Everything turns wrong.
And to be honest, this is true for the movie too. Until the team Scarlett assembled goes underground the movie keeps the tension and interest up, but then the whole story unravels becoming unclear at best and incoherent at worst. It’s a pity, because As Above So Below is one of the very few movies that managed to secure permission from the French government to film in there. With this amazing setting, this movie looks like a lost opportunity.
The only reason to watch it now that it’s avaialble on Netflix? The catacombs themselves, wiating for the moment to visit them in person on your next visit to Paris. Here the website of the musem, and, below, the movie’s trailer.
The movie might have turned out to be something of a disappointment, but with such a fascinating location I think it might be worth watching anyway 🙂
Yes, you’re right, especially because they’re the real ones! 😀