The Ones Below Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Ones Below Blu-ray Movie Review

Baby on Board

Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 6, 2016

Tales of an expectant mother in peril, whether real or imagined, inevitably inspire comparisons to Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, but The Ones Below is a different kind of story. There are no supernatural forces at work in the debut feature from writer/director David Farr, whose previous credits include the screenplay for Hanna. Two worlds collide in The Ones Below, but their distance can be measured by a flight of stairs in an apartment building. Between the top of the steps and the bottom lies a border separating incompatible emotional realms whose inhabitants discover, as events unfold, that peaceful coexistence is impossible.

Kate Pollard (Clémence Poésy, ) and her husband, Justin (Stephen Campbell Moore), live on the second floor of a two-story London walkup. After ten years of marriage, during which both husband and wife pursued successful careers, they are expecting their first child. Kate remains ambivalent about starting a family, an attitude that is easily understood when one meets her chilly and disinterested mother (Deborah Findlay). But with her husband's support, she seems to be settling into the prospect of motherhood.

Change arrives with new occupants of the downstairs apartment, which has been vacant since the death of the prior tenant. Theresa Baker (Laura Birn) is also pregnant with her first child, after several years of trying with husband Jon (David Morrissey), a brusque and successful businessman who has made his fortune abroad. Theresa met Jon when he was working in Germany, and they married after a whirlwind courtship. It is Jon's second marriage and his second effort at starting a family. Theresa claims to have no qualms about motherhood, although she exhibits odd behavior when the Pollards invite their new neighbors for dinner.

As a prelude to dinner, the two wives have socialized and shopped together, and they appear to be well on their way to becoming fast friends, with the reserved and cautious Kate warming to the extroverted, apparently care-free Theresa. But then a serious accident occurs, prompting Theresa and her husband to leave England for Germany. By the time they return, Kate has given birth to a son, and she and Justin are dealing with all the pressures and adjustments of first-time parenthood. It is then that Kate begins to suspect something terrible looming over her family, although she cannot say exactly what it is. Inexplicable noises are heard on the baby monitor; bathroom taps and stove burners are left on, though Kate insists she turned them off; Theresa appears (at least to Kate) to be taking an unhealthy interest in Kate's baby boy. Is Kate suffering from post-partum delusions, or is she being gaslighted (and, if so, for what purpose)?

The Ones Below is told almost entirely from Kate's point of view, which allows director Farr to generate tension and suspense by purely visual means, such as having Kate witness events that could be either innocent or nefarious, depending on one's interpretation. (In the extras, Farr cites Rear Window as an inspiration.) He sometimes frames her in such a manner as to prompt suspicion about what may be lurking outside the frame, and he extracts maximum discomfort from simple devices such as the Bakers' habit (acquired by Jon during his years in China) of taking off their shoes and leaving them outside the door. The contrast between the Pollards' sedate wardrobe and decor and the Bakers' gaudier taste also contributes to the growing sense of unease. And then there's the Pollards' energetic cat, whose antics are impossible to overlook. He routinely behaves like an actor trying to steal the scene, writhing and pawing so that the viewer's eye is compulsively drawn to him. In this drama, his role turns out to be more important than just complementing the domestic background.

The Ones Below Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Specific information about the shooting format of The Ones Below was not available, but it bears all the usual indications of digital acquisition. The credited cinematographer is Ed Rutherford (Archipelago). Magnolia Home Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray offers a finely detailed image with a largely muted palette dominated by cool blues, grays and whites for the Pollards, all of which contrasts sharply with Theresa's bright and colorful wardrobe and the flashier decor of the Bakers' home. Blacks are solid, contrast is appropriate, and the image is free of aliasing, banding or other distortion. Magnolia has mastered the film with an average bitrate of 19.99, with a capable encode.

The Ones Below Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Ones Below has a subtly understated 5.1 sound mix, encoded on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA, that greatly contributes to its unsettling atmosphere. Although it's a quiet film lacking any "jumps" or action beats, the speaker array is routinely alive with small sounds that catch your attention and make you question your surroundings: dripping water, the beep-beep-beep of a home security system, a cat's meow, breaking glass. The dialogue is consistently clear and appropriately integrated into the mix, and the track uses pauses and silences effectively. The score, primarily on piano, is by Adem Ilhan (In the Loop), and it shifts fluidly between a reassuring lullaby and foreboding tones of suspense.

The Ones Below Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Creating a Cinematic Moment: Under the Bridge (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:59): Writer/director Farr discusses both his overall visual strategy and the complex logistics of a specific shot.



• Going Below the Story (1080p; 1.78:1; 8:59): Farr describes the inspiration for the film's script and the history of the production. Producer Nikki Parrott also participates.



• Behind the Cast and Characters (1080p; 1.78:1; 8:59): Clémence Poésy ("Kate"), David Morrissey ("Jon"), Laura Birn ("Theresa") and Stephen Campbell Moore ("Justin") discuss their characters, and Farr discusses the apartment setting.



• Car Stunt: Breaking Down an Action Sequence (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:24): This is one of the most peculiar extras I have ever reviewed, because it explores a scene that is not in the film. Stunt coordinator Marc Cass describes shooting an action sequence involving two cars, one of which has a drunk driver. The included film clips suggest that this scene would have appeared in the early sequence where Kate and Justin spend a few days at the seaside. If the scene was cut during editing—and is not even available as a deleted scene—what is the point of exploring how it was shot?



• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1.85:1; 2:09): "You never know your own neighbors."



• Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment: The disc includes trailers for High-Rise, Satanic, The Last King and The Wave, as well as promos for the Charity Network and AXS TV. These also play at startup, where they can be skipped with the chapter forward button.



• BD-Live: As of this writing, attempting to access BD-Live produces the message "Check back later for updates".

The Ones Below Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Writer/director Farr has said that "[t]here's a horror in real life and absurdities in real life that are ever present and yet often not captured on film". The Ones Below eventually goes to an extreme place, but it gets there through everyday interactions and concerns. Magnolia's presentation is excellent and recommended, despite a sparse (and, in one glaring instance, inapt) complement of extras.