Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
A young affluent couple expecting their first child hits it off with the new couple that moves in downstairs, until a dinner party between them ends in a shocking accident.
The Ones Below is a competent British psychological thriller that covers well-trodden territory of sinister neighbours and paranoid new motherhood. The setup is effectively unsettling and the performances are solid but unremarkable. Visually it is clean and controlled without being particularly distinctive. The central concept of predatory neighbours exploiting post-partum vulnerability has been explored in many forms before, and the film adds little new to the subgenre. The ending resolves in a way that feels abrupt and somewhat undercooked, failing to deliver the full payoff the tension promises. A serviceable but largely forgettable entry in the paranoid-neighbour thriller canon.