The changing tide of shark horror: Sous la Seine (2024) and the ending we deserve

This article explores Sous La Seine (2024) as an ecohorror film that reconfigures the shark horror genre through satirical critique and intertextual engagement with Jaws (1975). Set against the Paris 2024 Olympics and featuring a preternaturally oversized Mako shark, the film juxtaposes nationalist spectacle with ecological collapse, foregrounding human complicity in environmental destruction. Drawing on theories of the Anthropocene and posthumanism, it examines how Sous La Seine subverts the ‘killer shark’ trope to interrogate capitalist, political and media-driven narratives. In doing so, the film illustrates how genre can expose the violence underpinning capitalist and environmental exploitation.