The opening of Netflix’s Below begins with an image that feels almost impossible: a family’s house is being towed across the water when an unseen force drags it beneath the surface. The scene is eerie, but it also carries the story’s emotional foundation. Before the series introduces its sea creature, it shows a family being uprooted from home—and a boy forced to make a decision that will haunt him for decades.
Netflix’s official Tudum coverage confirms that the sequence was central to creator Jesse McKeown’s original idea for the series. McKeown described wanting to open with a migration—a family moving into an uncertain future—before turning that moment into something horrifying. The house is not simply a spooky visual; it represents a home and a history that the characters cannot easily carry with them.
Why is a house being towed across the ocean?
Below follows Calvin Penney, played by Josh Hartnett, in the fictional Newfoundland community of Snook’s Arm. As a child, Calvin is forced to leave the island home he knows after the government takes control of the land. His family attaches their house and belongings to a boat and begins the journey toward a new home.
That journey turns into the defining trauma of Calvin’s life. Something beneath the water begins pulling the house down. With his father still inside, young Calvin must cut the line connecting the boat and the house to keep the rest of his family from being dragged under too. The opening image therefore sets up two mysteries at once: what lives beneath the ocean, and how Calvin can live with the choice he made as a child.
Was the house real, and how did the production film it?
The sequence is presented as a dramatic event in the show’s fictional story. Netflix’s public behind-the-scenes article explains the creative idea behind the image, but it does not provide a detailed technical breakdown confirming exactly how the house prop was constructed, rigged, or towed. It would be misleading to claim specific production methods—such as a full-size house being dragged across open ocean—without a production source that documents them.
What can be confirmed is that Below was filmed on location in Newfoundland, Canada, and the creative team emphasized the real coastline and maritime environment. In a separate Tudum feature, cast members described filming on the water and working in demanding outdoor locations. Those real settings help the opening feel grounded before the unexplained event takes over.
Newfoundland is more than a backdrop
Creator Jesse McKeown has said that years of visiting Newfoundland helped inspire the setting. The region’s isolated coastal communities, distinctive history, and close relationship with the sea gave the show a world that could support both family drama and supernatural horror.
That context matters to the opening scene. The family is not simply moving furniture from one address to another; they are losing a place tied to identity, memory, and belonging. In a fishing community, the ocean can mean livelihood and connection, but it can also be dangerous and unpredictable. Below turns that tension into a literal image: the family tries to carry its home across the water, and the water refuses to let it pass.
How the opening connects to Calvin’s story
The childhood disaster explains why adult Calvin is protective of his family and deeply suspicious of forces that threaten his community. He has already experienced the loss of a home and the disappearance of his father. When a new danger emerges from the ocean, the past is not just backstory—it shapes how Calvin understands the present.
The opening also establishes one of the series’ central questions: who gets to decide the fate of a community? Calvin’s family is displaced by decisions made beyond its control, while the town faces fresh pressure over its future. The sea creature is the immediate horror, but the fear of losing home is recognizably human.
Watch the opening’s atmosphere in the official trailer
The official trailer previews the unsettling house sequence and the larger mystery surrounding the waters off Newfoundland. The clip is a useful introduction to the series’ blend of coastal realism, family grief, and creature horror.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to the house in Below’s opening scene?
As Calvin’s family tows its house toward a new home, an unexplained force pulls it beneath the water. Calvin cuts the connecting line to save the rest of his family, leaving his father behind.
Why is Calvin’s family moving?
The story establishes that the family has to leave its island home after the government takes control of the land. The move becomes a traumatic turning point in Calvin’s childhood.
Was a real house towed into the ocean for Below?
The scene depicts a house being towed and sinking, but Netflix’s public production coverage does not confirm the exact construction or towing method used to film it. The fictional event should not be mistaken for verified evidence that an entire real house was dragged into open water.
Where was Below filmed?
Netflix confirms that the series was filmed in Newfoundland, Canada. Its coastal locations help establish the show’s isolated fishing-community atmosphere.
Sources
- Netflix Tudum: Below trailer, cast, plot, and the opening house sequence
- Netflix Tudum: Josh Hartnett on researching Newfoundland and filming on the water
- Netflix Tudum: Below cast and fictional community background
By Shivam Das
