The Ones Below (2015) Reviews

• Absorbing but Ultimately Mediocre

  syphongb2016-05-29

  Great cast, great performances, great direction...but the script...it was as if the writers either got bored of the whole thing or hastily finished it on deadline day. An absorbing, at times very tense buildup, hints at something possibly occult going on, but then a rushed ending that didn't need the buildup! It begins with a kind of Rosemary's Baby feel to it but the plot and tension builds to a certain level then remains there at that pace for the rest of the film. Well worth watching, but just enjoy the actors and mood and don't expect to be blown away by any clever plot twists and turns. It should have been shown as a Sunday evening BBC2 play or something.

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• Indicative of the times we live in

  rdeflorio-658952018-04-22

  I'm not naming actors by name. You have the couple expecting a child and the couple who lose one in the apartment below. Female below is dominated by an older man, who's full of himself to the point of nausea, who goes berserk after wife falls down steps after dinner "party". Said fall blamed on couple expecting's cat but truth is female below is freaking out due to dominants behavior, and try's to hurry out due to hiding wine consumption. Those below lose child. But the words yelled by dominating male WOULD INSURE NO FURTHER CONTACT WITH THOSE BELOW. But these are times when one must be positive regardless of behavior. Which leads to an unbelievable acquiescence by the couple expecting for these two dysfunctional and possible dangerous people below to be intertwined with them to the point of letting the woman below to "watch" baby of couple expecting, essentially a complete stranger, for hours on end. There's enough red flags yet father goes along with the ones below machinations even after mother gets wise....These are times when altruism is the norm. Where the phrase "don't be a hater" originated. The result is earned. Disturbing ending.

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• A gaping maw of a plot hole at the end ruins this film

  jonchamps2018-04-20

  The idea is a good one, and up until the last ten minutes it's actually very clever. However - spoiler alert - baby goes missing, no investigation, father never mentions why wife is so worried and no police? over a missing baby? Rudimentary investigation would have revealed who did it in ten minutes. Utterly relentlessly pointless ending that makes no sense! How was this ever released with such a painful plot hole!

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• Really tried my patience; but once the story really gets going, it gets good.

  Hellmant2016-06-07

  'THE ONES BELOW': Four Stars (Out of Five) A British thriller flick, written and directed by David Farr. It stars Clemence Poesy, Stephen Campbell Moore, David Morrissey and Laura Birn. The film is about a couple, that's expecting a child, that gets into severe conflict with another couple, expecting their own child, that lives beneath them. The movie got good reviews from critics, and I enjoyed it as well. Kate (Poesy) and Justin (Moore) are expecting their first child. A new couple, named Teresa (Birn) and Jon (Morrissey), just moved into the apartment below them; and they're expecting their first baby as well. The two couples meet, and have dinner together. Something goes horribly wrong, and the couples find themselves at great odds with each other. The film is very slow-building, at first, and that really tried my patience; but once the story really gets going, the movie becomes very interesting. The characters are all really well written, and acted. The film is also nicely stylized, with creepy, and sometimes very unsettling, atmosphere. The twist at the end is not that shocking though (not nearly as much as the filmmakers appear to think), and (again) the first half of the movie is very slow-paced. Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/8E1WKbyL3YM

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• A haunting story with an unfortunately flawed script

  jtindahouse2016-09-26

  I really enjoyed 'The Ones Below' and was almost willing to give it a '9' rating, when I suddenly realised there was a glaring and unforgivable plot hole ruining the premise of the movie, or more importantly its twist. Usually I'm very forgiving when it comes to plot holes, because I'm pretty good at finding a way to justify them in some context and not allow it to destroy the experience for me. On this occasion though I simply could not do that. (SPOILERS) When the twist at the end is revealed that it was never actually the baby being thrown into the river, it makes no sense that no one has actually gone in searching and worked out there is no baby and launched a massive search. It would take the police literally 5 minutes, by the look of that river, to go in there and find whatever bundle was actually thrown in (I suspect the cat). In fact I kept expecting the father to dive in right there on the spot. You'd have to wouldn't you? It's a shame that a very poor and lazy piece of writing can take so much away from an otherwise great film. There was a lot of good elements here. There was the mystery side of things, where we were never entirely sure of character's motives and whether things were as they seemed or not. There was the dramatic side of things, with people genuinely dealing with loss and depression. And there was a lot of intensity in particular scenes, mostly created by some excellent acting by the main four actors in the cast. Putting aside the writing flaws in the ending, I did like it as a twist. It's not the most blindsiding of plot twists (because a part of you suspects this the entire film) but it still works. Definitely a film worth a look.

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