‘What Lies Below’ is the best bad movie of 2020
By: Eric Langberg
Tags: Film, Horror, Movie Review, Film Reviews, Movies

Every so often, a movie comes along that defies categorization as simply “good” or “bad.” I love movies like this, movies that are so deeply odd that they make you question what film is and can be and should be. The most recent experience I can remember like this was 2019’s Serenity, a film starring Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey. Serenity is a sun-drenched noir thriller that has a wild, out-of-nowhere twist that sends the film into instant-cult classic territory. Still, the whole thing is executed well; it’s well-acted, beautifully filmed, and reasonably suspenseful… so what do we do with a movie like that?

This week, Vertical Entertainment is releasing What Lies Below, the debut film from Braden Duemmler. Is it good? Is it bad? Who knows, and who cares? It’s a blast.

What Lies Below tells the story of a family by the lake. Ema Horvath plays Liberty, a teenage girl who comes home from camp at the end of the summer to find that her mother (Mena Suvari) has been shacking up with a man named John (Trey Tucker). John says he is an aquatic geneticist, part of a research team that’s spread around the region to study animals who are able to adapt to changing salinity levels in the water. Oh, and John is gorgeous. When Liberty first gets home, she and her mother find John in the lake; when he slowly walks out of the water like Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, abs glistening and Speedo bulging, Liberty breathes, “Holy crap.”

“I know,” says her mother. “I’ve been riding him every day.”

John (Trey Tucker) in the lake. / courtesy Vertical Entertainment

For most of the first act, What Lies Below is firmly in Lifetime Movie territory. (And, to clarify: I’m not using that as a pejorative. Lifetime movies are fascinating peeks at our societal id). From the mockbuster title to the inclusion of exactly one recognizable actor in Suvari, the film seems at first to be a seedy thriller about a young girl who can’t help but be overwhelmingly attracted to her mother’s boyfriend. When he seems to be taking an interest in her, too — a careful touch of the shoulder here, a lingering doorway moment to watch her sleep there — we think at first that this may be a thriller about an illicit relationship between a teenager and the hunk down the hall.

After all, when she hears her mother moaning in ecstasy, Liberty can’t help but get down on her hands and knees and peer underneath the doorway.

But: oh, no. This is not just that. What Lies Below has much more than that up its sleeve, its sights set on something more… eccentric.

Because one day, shortly after she meets John for the first time, Liberty sees him coming back from a long jog. He peels off his sweaty shirt, puts it to his lips, and squeezes.

And then one night, she looks out over the lake and sees John wading out into the water, seeming to be drawn to a light floating beneath the surface…

John (Trey Tucker) goes for a late-night swim. / courtesy Vertical Entertainment

To say much more than that would be to ruin the immense pleasures that come from watching What Lies Below unfold. The film careens wildly from one ridiculous storytelling decision to the next, from the uncomfortable (the aforementioned fascination that Liberty seems to have with her mother’s sex life) to the eccentric (whatever it is, exactly, that lies below the surface of the lake).

The thing is, though… it all happens intentionally. This is the kind of movie where, once the twist clicks into place, everything resonates differently on a second watch-through. Throwaway lines have meaning; insane character choices make more sense once you know everyone’s motivation; ridiculous plot developments are actually leading to something bigger. Sure, the way it gets there is sometimes gasp-inducing and often absurd, but it is going somewhere.

Everyone seems to be in a different movie, which makes the experience all the more fun. Ema Horvath is 26 but is playing a 16 year old, and it’s quite clear she’s older than her character is supposed to be. Something about the slight rasp in her voice and the way she peers up at the hunky housemate through her severe blonde chop makes her seem like a long-lost third Mara sister — more Kate than Rooney. Mena Suvari is a great scream queen; she staggers around the house looking frazzled and in love, and when the film spirals out of control and she has to confront what she’s invited into her house, she’s cruel and frightening.

Michelle (Mena Suvari) considers a shocking revelation from her daughter. / courtesy Vertical Entertainment

The performance that interests me most is Trey Tucker as John. Aside from Mena Suvari, he’s the one who seems to know most of all what kind of movie he’s in. In the Lifetime Movie version of this story, his cunning, devious hunk would serve as a comment on the dangers of believing in the false sense of security offered by conventionally attractive white men with abs. He kind of still does, but when he’s allowed to really let loose and go wild, when he can bring the danger that seems to be peering out from those impossibly-green eyes to the surface, he’s genuinely compelling. Plus, sometimes it’s just a lot of fun for a horror movie to objectify the absolute hell out of the men instead of the women.

There’s a certain breed of horror fan who loves a film like this, where the reach far exceeds the grasp. This is the kind of horror movie that shoots for the stars, misses the moon, and bursts into flame on its way back down to Earth, but leaves a glorious, glittery trail as it goes. If that sounds like your taste, don’t miss this.

Oh, and don’t watch the trailer. It gives everything away. Just let What Lies Below happen to you.