“Beneath Us” is what happens when film making tries to cash in on political current events with shallow story and unremarkable execution. This film about undocumented workers trapped in a nightmare scenario badly wants to hit that “Get Out” vibe but fails in almost every regard.
When a group of day workers get hired by a wealthy couple outside of a hardware store, they believe they’ve hit the jackpot with a payday that might be able to bring their families over the Mexican border to join them. When they arrive to the couple’s secluded compound, they find themselves the latest victims of a sick house flipping scheme.
There is no character development, hence no one to really root for. There is no background on the scheme which has allowed every to get to where they are. And there are a lot of loose ends throughout the entire film that are never tied up.
Director Max Pachman has given us a straight to digital release which happens to have ended up in theaters here in Orlando and there are no stars here to even try to attempt this heavy lift.
I can say that it’s only 90 minutes and you shouldn’t get too bored with the pacing moving us quickly into the chaos.
“Beneath Us” needed more money. Better writing. And a more certain direction. In the end it’s political message also falls completely flat.
Beneath Us
Grade: D
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.