Josh Hartnett Sci-Fi Thriller Below Dethrones East of Eden on Netflix
Josh Hartnett Sci-Fi Series Below Dethrones Western Hit on Netflix
Netflix has a new sci-fi series taking over its streaming charts, having already beaten the streamer’s biggest western. Released on October 8, 2026, the six-part thriller Below climbed past the streaming service’s previous chart-topper after just a few days on the platform.
The Tech TL;DR:
- Netflix released all six episodes of the sci-fi thriller Below globally on October 8, 2026.
- The series knocked the John Steinbeck adaptation East of Eden out of the top streaming spot.
- Created by Jesse McKeown and starring Josh Hartnett, the show follows iceberg harvesters in Newfoundland terrorized by a mysterious creature.
Below Replaces East of Eden as Top Streaming Show
Netflix’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, starring Florence Pugh, dropped earlier in the month and quickly claimed the top streaming position. That victory proved short-lived once Below landed on the service.
While the series secured a strong 82% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, viewer response has brought mixed reactions, settling at a 62% user score. Online viewers singled out Josh Hartnett’s performance for a specific element: his regional accent. Hartnett plays Calvin Penney, a Newfoundland fisherman and iceberg harvester, but social media users questioned the execution of the dialect. One X user wrote, Just tapping into Below on Netflix and 10mins in, I’m already cringing at all the bad accents from these American actors,
while another user stated, As someone who spent a lot of her life in northern Wisconsin, surrounded by Canadians, I feel authorized to say the accents in Netflix’s Below are Irish accents in Canadian clothing.
Jesse McKeown Creates Below in Fictional Newfoundland Town
Created by showrunner Jesse McKeown, Below centers on the fictional town of Snook’s Arm in Newfoundland, Canada. The narrative tracks inhabitants confronting a supposed sea creature, though the plot introduces twists that complicate the threat. Alongside Josh Hartnett, the cast features Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton, Ruby Stokes, and Kaleb Horn.
The series arrives during a heavy content cycle for Netflix in 2026, following the release of titles such as Man on Fire, Teach You a Lesson, I Will Find You, and His & Hers, alongside new seasons of Bridgerton, One Piece, and Stranger Things. Netflix is scheduled to publish its exact viewership metrics for the past seven days later in the week, providing concrete data on the audience reach achieved by the new sci-fi release.
