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What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath

Drama · Horror · Mystery · 2000

Norman and Claire Spencer are a seemingly happily married couple who uncover a terrible secret… a secret so disturbing it threatens to destroy them.

Movie details

What Lies Beneath

“He was the perfect husband until his one mistake followed them home.”

2000 Drama · Horror · Mystery 2h 10m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

Norman and Claire Spencer are a seemingly happily married couple who uncover a terrible secret… a secret so disturbing it threatens to destroy them.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over What Lies Beneath?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Gift

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Blackwater Lane

Blackwater Lane

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An American school teacher in England drives past an abandoned car late one night, unaware that the driver was the victim of a murder. As she comes to terms with the realization, seemingly supernatural events start to affect the gothic manor she lives in with her husband.

Raising Cain

Raising Cain

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Child psychologist Carter Nix is a loving and caring family man, but under this appearance lies a dark and troubled past. Grappling with the consequences of this past on his own psyche and the influence of his returning father and violent brother Cain, Carter becomes involved in a series of murders and kidnappings. Meanwhile, his wife Jenny rekindles an old love affair, placing herself in the crosshairs of her increasingly unstable husband.

Backrooms

Backrooms

Horror · 2026

A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.

Don't Look Now

Don't Look Now

Thriller · 1973

While grieving a terrible loss, a married couple meet two mysterious sisters, one of whom gives them a message sent from the afterlife.

Stir of Echoes

Stir of Echoes

Horror · 1999

After being hypnotized by his sister-in-law, Tom Witzky begins seeing haunting visions of a girl's ghost and a mystery begins to unfold around her.

Fear of Rain

Fear of Rain

Thriller · 2021

A teenage girl living with schizophrenia begins to suspect her neighbor has kidnapped a child. Her parents try desperately to help her live a normal life, without exposing their own tragic secrets, and the only person who believes her is Caleb – a boy she isn’t even sure exists.

Watcher

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As a serial killer stalks the city, Julia — a young actress who just moved to town with her husband — notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street.

The Night House

The Night House

Horror · 2021

Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together — but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband's belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing — a mystery she's determined to unravel.

Smile

Smile

Horror · 2022

After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Zemeckis

Written by

Clark Gregg · Sarah Kernochan

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer

Claire Spencer

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

Norman Spencer

Diana Scarwid

Diana Scarwid

Jody

Joe Morton

Joe Morton

Dr. Drayton

James Remar

James Remar

Warren Feur

Miranda Otto

Miranda Otto

Mary Feur

Wendy Crewson

Wendy Crewson

Elena

Court is in session

Put What Lies Beneath on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.