What Lies Beneath
Short description
Norman Spencer is a university professor and genetics researcher living with his wife Claire in an isolated lakeside house in New England. With their daughter away at college, Claire spends much of her time alone, and she begins to notice odd occurrences around the home: objects falling on their own, doors opening, radios switching on. She comes to believe a spirit is present, and when she tries to tell Norman, he dismisses her fears. Her attention also turns to the neighbours, the Feurs, after she hears a woman crying and sees Warren Feur moving a large bag to his car at night. Claire pursues her own investigation into what is happening, and what she finds unsettles the couple's marriage.
Robert Zemeckis directed the film, the thirteenth of the twenty-three features he has directed in chronological order, following Cast Away and preceding The Polar Express. Clark Gregg wrote the screenplay, and Zemeckis produced with Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire and Harrison Ford plays Norman, with Diana Scarwid, Joe Morton, James Remar and Miranda Otto among the credited cast of twenty-two; 171 crew members are credited.
Released in July 2000, the film had a budget of 100 million US dollars and took about 291 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.6 out of 10 from roughly 145,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.4 out of 10 from over 2,000 votes. A critics' rating of 5.7 out of 10 from 130 reviews places it below both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's trailer was criticized for revealing too much of the plot twists to the audience, even including the identity of the ghost girl.
- Robert Zemeckis filmed this movie between shoots for 'Cast Away,' as Tom Hanks, the lead actor, needed to lose 20 kg and grow out his hair.
- In the scene where Michelle Pfeiffer's character lies stunned on the floor and the killer leans over her, the subsequent shots, where the camera appears to look directly into the actress's face, were filmed from below through a glass floor. The regular floor at the beginning of the scene was created on a computer, and the glass floor was used again later in the scene where she drops the keys.
- Five different bathroom and toilet sets were created for filming.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
